UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 


UNIVT  of 


LOS  ANKLES 
UBRAKY 


"N 

f  •* 

ON 


THE    LATE    WAR         ** 


BETWEEN  THE 


UNITED  STATES  AND  GREAT  BRITAIN: 


TOGETHER  WITH 


OTHER  MISCELLANEOUS  WRITING^  /^8^ 


ON 


THE  SAME  SUBJECT. 


WILLIAM.  COBBETT, 


NEW-YORK: 

PUBMSHED  BY  J.   BELDEN  AND  CO- 

\"an  Winkle  &  Wiley,  Printers. 


DISTRICT  OP  NEW- YORK,  «. 

BE  IT  REMEMBERED,  that  on  the  twenty-seventh  day  of  November,  in  the 
fortieth  year  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America,  J.  Belden  &  Co. 
of  the  sa'id  district,  have  deposited  in  this  office  the  title  of  a  book,  the  right  whereof 
they  claim  as  proprietors,  in  the  words  following,  to  wit : 

"Letters  on  the  late  War  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain:  toge- 
ther  with  other  Miscellaneous  Writings,  on  the  same  Subject  By  William  Cob- 
bett,  Esq." 

In  conformity  to  the  act  of  Congress  of  the  United  States,  entitled,  "  An  act  for 
the  encouragement  of  learning,  by  securing  the  copies  of  maps,  charts,  and  books  to 
the  authors  and  proprietors  of  such  copies,  during  the  times  therein  mentioned ;" 
and  also  to  an  act,  entitled,  "  An  act,  supplementary  to  an  act,  entitled  an  act  for 
.  the  encouragement  of  learning,  by  securing  the  copies  of  maps,  charts,  and  books  to 
the  authors  and  proprietors  of  such  copies,  during  the  times  therein  mentioned,  and 
extending  the  benefits  thereof  to  the  arts  of  designing,  engraving,  and  etching  histo- 
rical an<J  other  prints." 

THEROX  RUDD, 
Clerk  of  the  Southern  District  of  XevYork, 


* 


PREFACE. 


A  PREFACE,  in  many  instances,  may  be  said  to  be 
an  apology  to  the  public  for  the  entertainment  which 
the  author  or  publisher  is  about  to  set  before  his 
readers;  and,  conscious  of  the  inferiority  of  the 
viands,  of  the  defect  in  cookery,  or  the  misarrange- 
ment  of  the  table,  he  is  induced  to  make  known  his 
disappointment  at  what  he  intended  should  be  a  treat, 
and  to  ask  the  pardon  of  his  guests. 

Considering  a  preface  in  this  light,  we  should  not 
pretend  to  offer  one  to  our  readers.  We  have  no 
apology  to  make  for  the  contents  of  this  volume :  it 
contains  the  writings  of  a  man,  on  the  concerns  of 
America,  whose  energetic  pen  has  been,  for  twenty 
years,  employed  in  political  discussions,  and  who, 
from  the  boldness  and  originality  of  his  style,  as  well 
as  from  his  perspicuity  of  expression,  has  received 
the  current  approbation  of  the  generality  of  English 
readers,  and  even  silenced  the  pen  of  invidious  cri* 
ticism. 

We  are  aware  that  all  we  could  say,  either  in  far 
vour  of,  or  against  these  letters,  would  not  add  an 
atom  to  their  merit,  or  detract  from  the  prejudice 
which  many  may  feel  towards  them ;  but  we  consi- 
der it  a  duty  that  we  owe  to  the  public,  to  state  our 
opinion  of  the  writer,  and  our  inducements  to  their 
publication. 


IV  PREFACE. 


WILLIAM  COBBETT,  during  his  residence  in  thfe 
United  States,  appeared  among  us  as  the  foe  to  civil 
liberty,  and  the  most  virulent  opposer  of  republics. 
It  will  be  recollected,  however,  by  our  readers,  that 
this  was  in  an  epoch  of  the  French  revolution,  and  in 
•a  day,  too,  when  its  horrors  were  at  their  height ; 
which  were,  in  some  instances,  sufficient  to  disgust 
the  most  strenuous  advocates  of  liberty  and  the 
•BIGHTS  OF  MAN.  Instead  of  liberty,  it  carried  with 
it  the  stamp  of  licentiousness ;  and  under  the  toga  of 
Homan  eloquence,  breathing  virtue  and  self  devo- 
tion, was  a  dagger  concealed,  yet  warm  with  blood* 
and  thirsting  for  further  victims.  At  an  era  like 
this,  many  men  who,  before  and  since,  have  been  the 
steadiest  and  most  zealous  friends  of  republicanism, 
•were  even  staggered  in  their  faith,  and  revolted  at 
the  bloody  calendar  which  the  times  displayed. 

We  do  not  by  this  intend  to  become  the  apolo- 
gists of  William  Cobbett,  or  of  his  writings  at  that 
day,  under  the  title  of  Porcupine  ;  they  were  too 
slanderous,  too  anti-republican,  and  too  hostile  to  the 
interests  of  this  nation,  for  any  American  pen  to 
vindicate  :  if  any  defence  can  be  made,  it  is  that  he 
was  devoted  to  the  cause  of  his  own  avowed  coun- 
try, England ;  and  that,  feeling  too  strongly  the 
enormities  of  France  during  the  throes  of  her  revo- 
lution, he  carried  America  and  all  republican  systems 
into  the  vortex  of  his  enmity. 

The  continued  devotion  of  his  talents  to  politics, 
from  that  day  until  the  present,  and  the  prodigies 
which  have  eventuated  within  this  period,  have 


PBEFACE,  V 

Operated  to  cause  a  revolution  in  his  sentiments,  as 
regards  states,  kingdoms,  and  councils,  almost  as 
wonderful  as  the  changes,  chances,  and  disasters, 
which  have  astonished  and  distracted  the  world,  by 
turns,  for  the  last  quarter  century.  From  the  friend 
of  monarchy,  the  supporter  of  crowned  heads,  of 
legitimate  sovereignty,  of  titles,  clergy,  and  tythes, 
William  Cobbett  has  become  the  champion  of  civil 
liberty,  the  defender  of  the  rights  of  man,  the  oppo- 
nent of  clerical  intolerance,  and  the  advocate  of  the 
independence  and  integrity  of  nations  :  from  the 
Porcupine,  armed  with  his  venomous  quills  to  assail 
the  republic  of  America  and  her  institutions,  he  has 
become  her  friend  and  advocate,  even  amongst  her 
enemies ;  and  in  as  much  as  he  once  attempted  to 
wound  her,  has  he  endeavoured  at  reparation  of  in- 
jury by  doing  her  service.  Some  of  our  readers 
may  say  all  this  has  been  produced  by  self  interest ; 
that  he  was  the  hireling  writer  of  England  while  in 
America ;  the  hireling  writer  of  the  ministry  on  his 
return  ;  and  that  he  now  is  the  hireling  writer  of  the 
opposition.  "  Allowing  all  this  to  be  true,  of  which 
we  know  nothing,  are  we  to  reject  the  writings  of 
any  one,  because  he  was  once  employed  to  do  us  au 
injury,  ,but  who  is  now  engaged  in  a  better  cause", 
and  feels  desirous  to  do  us  a  service  ? 

We  believe  that  William  Cobbett  did  receive  re- 
muneration for  his  writings  while  in  America;  but  we 
also  believe  him  now  to  be  independent,  and  so  much 
so,  that  he  is  placed  far  above  receiving  a  stipend  or 
salary  from  either  one  party  or  the  other;  and  that 


VI  PREFACE. 

he  now  is  endeavouring  to  hold,  at  least,  for  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life,  a  steady,  unbiassed,  and  inde- 
pendent pen,  fearless  of  frowns,  and  heedless  of  fa- 
vours. His  writings  certainly  bear  no  more  analogy 
to  the  speeches  of  the  members  of  the  opposition,  than 
to  those  of  the  ministerial  bench,  excepting  that  of  the 
thorough  contempt  which  he  now  bears  for  those  pri- 
vileged orders  he  once  extolled,  and  those  licentious 
exactions  he  once  called  necessary.  The  opposition 
never  uttered,  nor  dared  to  utter,  such  sentiments 
as  are  expressed  by  Cobbett  in  these  letters.  They 
are  completely  unique,  to  come  from  the  pen  of  an 
Englishman,  and  are  as  bold  as  unique,  possessing 
within  themselves  a  property,  sui  generis,  which 
neither  king,  lords,  nor  commons  could  imitate,  for 
they  speak  a  language  they  are  not  wont  to  hear — 
the  language  of  truth,  exhibiting  their  errors,  their 
injustice,  and  folly. 

Instead  of  adverting  to  what  William  Cobbett  has 

o 

been,  we  therefore  prefer  to  do  justice  to  what  he 
now  is,  and,  presenting  these  letters  as  his  index*  we 
leave  him  to  the  better  judgment  of  our  readers. 

*.£*  //  is  not  the  novelty  of  these  letters  which  induces 
our  publication,  but  in  order  to  preserve  them  for  the 
American  reader.  Many  of  them  ham  been  published 
in  our  daily  papers  ;  but  the  ephemeral  fate  of  a  news- 
paper is  such  as  would  not  warrant  its  being  made  a 
chronicle  of  reference  ;  besides,  we  are  convinced  that 
no  one  paper  contains  all  these  letters,  and,  in  those  that 
contain  the  most  of  them,  they  are  so  heterogeneously 


PREFACE.  VJl 


mixed,  that  the  reader  is  in  pain  while  he  resorts  to 
them.  With  regard  to  our  chronological  arrangement 
of  dates,  &c.  the  reader  must  make  an  excuse  for  us  in 
his  own  mind,  by  considering  the  detached  and  uncertain 
manner  in  which  they  reached  us.  We  have,  in  some 
instances,  preferred  following  the  order  of  the  subject 
than  the  date,  for  which,  we  should  presume,  he  would 
feel  rather  pleased  than  angry.  Conscious  that  we  have 
exerted  ourselves  to  gratify  our  patrons,  we  shall  feel 
proud  of  their  pleasure,  and  shall  continue  our  compi- 
lations of  William  Cobbetfs  writings  on  America, 
should  these  be  received  with  the  public1  s  approbation. 

Few-York,  November,  1815. 


LETTERS 


OF 


WILLIAM  COBBETT,  ESQ. 


LETTER  I. 

TO    THE    PRINCE    REGENT: 

Sir, 

FEELING,  as  the  people  of  this  kingdom  do  so  severely, 
smarting,  writhing,  as  we  are,  under  the  effects  of  the  war 
with  France,  and  considering  how  easily  this  war  might,  in 
179-i,  have  been  avoided  without  either  danger  or  dishonour 
to  England ;  thus  feeling,  and  thus  reflecting,  it  is  natural  for 
us,  when  threatened  with  a  new  war,  to  inquire,  betimes,  what 
are  the  grounds  of  such  war  ;  whether  it  would  be  just  ;  if  just, 
whether  it  would  be  necessary  ;  and,  be  the  cause  what  it  may, 
whether  the  consequences  are  likely  to  be  good  or  evil. 

If,  sir,  the  counsels  of  Mr.  Fox  had  been  listened  to,  in  the 
yeafrs  1792  and  1T93,  the  state  of  England,  of  Europe,  and  of 
the  world,  would  have  been  very  different  indeed  from  what  it 
now  is.  A  war  against  opinions  and  principles  would  not  have 
been  waged  ;  England,  instead  of  becoming  a  party  in  that 
fatal  and  disgraceful  war,  would  have  been  a  mediatress  be- 
tween the  conflicting  parties,  if,  indeed,  she  had  not  wholly 
prevented  the  conflict.  So  many  governments  would  not  have 
been  overthrown  ;  such  rivers  of  human  blood  would  not  have 
been  shed  ;  reformation  might  and  would  have  been  produced, 
because  the  state  of  things,  and  the  temper  of  men's  minds,  de- 
manded it;  but  no  where  need  there  have  been  destruction ; 
all  the  states  of  Europe  might  have  remained  on  their  old 
foundations,  and  the  Bourbons  might  at  this  day  have  been  upon 
the  thrones  of  France  and  Spain.  This  kingdom,  too,  might, 
and  must  have  shared  in  the  reformation ;  but  such  reformation 
would  have  made  no  inroads  upon  rank  or  property  ;  and  the 
nation  would  have  avoided  all  those  measures  of  coercion,  all 
those  before-unheard-of  laws  to  which  the  contest  gave  rise ; 

2 


10  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

and  those  enormous  expenses,  which,  first  producing  debt  and 
tenfold  taxation,  led  by  degrees  to  that  pauperism  and  paper 
money,  which  now  form  the  two  great  and  hideous  features  in 
the  state  of  our  internal  affairs,  and  which  no  man  who  really 
loves  the  country  can  contemplate  without  the  most  serious 
apprehensions. 

Such  being  the  consequences  of  that  war,  or,  rather  a  part 
of  these  consequences,  the  far  greater  proportion  of  them  being, 
in  all  probability,  yet  to  come,  it  behooves  those  who  have 
power  to  act  to  consider  nell  before  they  launch  the  country 
into  a  new  war  ;  and  it  is  the  right  of  every  man  to  express,  in 
the  way  whteh  he  may  think  most  likely  to  be  efficient,  his 
opinions  upon  the  subject.  This  right  I  am  now  about  to  exer- 
cise, and  if  I  have  chosen,  as  the  vehicle,  an  address  to  your 
Royal  Highness,  it  is  because  that  respect,  which  inclination 
as  well  as  duty  dictate  upon  such  an  occasion,  will  not  fail  to 
make  me  dismiss  from  my  mind  all  partiality  and  prejudice,  and 
to  offer  nothing  unsupported  by  fair  reasoning  and  undeniable 
facts. 

As  to  the  grounds  of  the  present  dispute  with  the  American 
States,  they  are  some  of  them  of  very  long  standing.  The 
conduct  of  this  government  relative  to  the  war  against  those 
States  was  extremely  unwise ;  but  its  conduct  since  the  war 
is,  I  am  convinced,  unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  diplomatic  fol- 
ly. The  moment  that  war  was  at  an  end,  the  people  of  the 
two  countries,  attached  to  each  other  by  all  the  lies  which  im- 
perious nature  has  provided,  were  ready  to  rush  into  a  mutual 
embrace,  and  like  children  of  the  same  common  parent,  whose 
harmony  had  been  disturbed  by  a  transient  quarrel,  to  become 
even  more  affectionate  towards  each  other  than  they  had  been 
before.  Not  so  the  governments.  With  them  ambition  and 
resentment  had  something  to  say.  But,  the  American  Govern- 
ment being,  from  the  nature  of  its  constitution,  a  thing  of  such 
transient  possession,  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  any  set 
of  men  long  to  remain  in  power  if  they  had  been  discovered  to 
entertain  a  vindictive  disposition  towards  England  ;  that  is  to 
say,  if  the  government  of  England  had  discovered  no  such  dis- 
position towards  America.  Unhappily  such  a  disposition  was 
but  too  plainly  seen  in  the  whole  of  the  conduct  of  our  govern- 
ment ;  and  hence  we  have  witnessed,  from  the  end  of  the  Ame- 
rican war  to  this  day,  a  dispute,  and  an  angry  dispute  too.  upon 
some  ground  or  other,  constantly  existing  and  in  agitation  be- 
tween the  two  countries,  to  the  great  injury  of  them  both»  to 
the  great  injury  of  the  cause  of  freedom,  and  to  the  great  ad- 
vantage of  France  as  a  nation,  and  to  the  cause  of  despotic 
sway  all  over  the  world.  The  war  was  at  an  end,  but  the 
quarrel  seemed  only  to  have  begun :  a  seven  years  war,  and 
an  already  eight-and-twenty  years  of  quarrel  J 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  11 

It  was  full  ten  years  before  we  condescended  to  send  a  Mi- 
nister to  reside  in  America,  and  when  we  did  it,  the  object 
seemed  to  be  only  to  recall,  or  to  render  more  active,  ancient 
animosities.  A  miserable  dispute  about  old  claims  for  debts 
due  to  English  subjects  on  one  side,  and  about  negroes  carried 
off  at  the  peace  on  the  other  side,  clouded  and  made  gloomy 
the  dawn  of  this  new  diplomatic  intercourse.  This  dispute  was 
kept  alive  until  new  claims  for  vessels  unlawfully  confiscated 
arose  on  the  part  of  the  American  government.  The  treaty 
of  1794,  which  provided  for  Commissioners  to  settle  these 
claims  would,  it  was  hoped,  produce  harmony ;  but  it  is  well 
known  that  it  only  widened  the  breach.  At  last,  however,  we 
patched  up  this  matter:  we  yielded,  but  it  was  without  magna- 
nimity— we  gave  our  money  ;  the  nation  was  taxed  to  make  up 
for  the  blunders  of  the  cabinet ;  but  we  gave  without  the  credit 
of  generosity.  In  the  meanwhile,  the  English  creditors  have 
remained,  many  of  them  until  this  day,  unsatisfied,  while  a 
Board  of  Commissioners,  who  have  been  sitting  either  here  or 
in  America  ever  since  the  year  1794,  or,  at  least,  have  been 
paid  all  that  time,  have  swallowed  up  in  expenses  to  the  nation, 
a  great  part  of  what  would  have  sufficed  to  satisfy  our  own 
claimants  without  any  application  for  money  for  that  purpose  to 
the  American  States.  In  the  course  of  this  part  of  the  dispute 
there  was  much  unfairness  on  the  part  of  the  American  Govern- 
ment; and  we  might  have  been  fully  justified,  strictly  speak- 
ing, in  coming  to  a  rupture  upon  that  ground.  But,  we  came, 
to  neither  a  rupture  nor  a  reconciliation  :  we  asserted  our  claims, 
and  then  gave  them  up ;  but  we  took  care  to  choose  that  man- 
ner of  doing  it,  which  effectually  took  all  merit  from  the  thing. 

This  point  was  hardly  patched  up,  when  another  subject  of 
dispute  arose ;  to  that  another,  and  another,  and  another,  have 
succeeded,  the  long-contested  question  relative  to  the  impress- 
went  of  American  seamen  running  through  the  whole.  So 
that,  at  last,  there  has  grown  together  a  mass  of  disputes  and  of 
ill-blood,  which  threaten  us  with  a  new  war,  and  which  war 
threatens  us  with  new  burdens,  and,  still  worse,  which  threat- 
ens the  world  wilh  the  extinguishment  of  some  part,  at  least,  of 
its  remaining  liberties.  The  points,  however,  more  immedi- 
ately at  issue,  are  those  relating  to  the  present  non-importation 
law  and  the  affair  between  the  American  Frigate  President, 
and  our  sloop  of  war,  the  Little  Belt.  As  to  the  former  points 
in  dispute,  the  Americans  were  the  complainants  :  they  called 
for  satisfaction,  and,  whether  they  ought  to  have  obtained  it  or 
not,  it  is  certain  that  they  have  not  yet  obtained  it.  Upon, 
these  two  recent  points,  therefore,  as  being  thought  likely  to 
lead  to  war,  and  as  being  so  represented  by  those  public  prints 
which  are  known  to  be  under  the  influence  of  persons  in  power, 


l'£  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

I  shall  now  proceed  most  respectfully  to  offer  to  your  Royal 
Highness  such  remarks  as  the  occasion  appears  to  me  to  demand. 

The  N  on- Importation  Act,  that  is  to  say,  the  law  which  has 
been  passed  in  America  to  prohibit  the  importation  of  any  thing; 
being  the  growth  or  manufacture  of  Great  Britain  or  Ireland, 
and  which  law  is  now  in  force  in  America,  must  doubtless  be 
regarded  as  a  measure  of  a  hostile,  though  not  of  a  warlike 
nature,  because  the  same  law  does  not  apply  to  the  enemy 
with  whom  we  are  at  war  ;  and,  beside  this  commercial  pro- 
hibition, our  ships  of  war  are  shut  out  from  the  harbours,  rivers, 
and  waters  of  the  United  States,  while  our  enemy's  ships  of 
war  are  permitted  freely  to  enter  and  abide  in  them.  These 
are  distinctions  of  an  unfriendly  nature :  they  are,  indeed,  mea- 
sures of  hostility ;  but,  then,  I  beg  your  Royal  Highness  to 
bear  in  mind,  that  they  are  acts  of  a  much  lower  degree  of  hos- 
tility than  were  the  acts  of  your  Royal  Father's  ministers 
against  France  in  the  Year  1792,  though  they,  to  this  hour, 
contend,  that  that  war  was  a  war  of  aggression  on  the  part  of 
France  ;  and,  of  course,  their  own  doctrine,  if  now  cited  against 
this  country,  would  be  quite  sufficient  on  the  part  of  America. 
But  the  fact  is,  that  the  non  importation  act,  and  the  exclusion  of 
British  ships  frwrn  the  waters  of  America,  while  importation  is 
permitted  from  France,  and  while  French  ships  have  free 
entrance  and  abidance  in  the  waters  of  the  United  States,  are 
acts  of  a  hostile  nature,  and  would,  if  unjustified  by  provoca- 
tion, fully  authorize,  on  our  part,  acts  of  reprisal  and  of  war. 

But,  sir,  these  measures,  on  the  part  of  America,  have  not 
been  adopted  without  alleged  provocation,  and  without  loud 
and  reiterated  remonstrances.  They  have,  in  fact,  arisen  out 
of  certain  measures  adopted  by  us,  and  which  measures  are 
alleged  to  be  in  violation  of  the  rights  of  America  as  a  neutral 
nation ;  and,  therefore,  before  we  can  justify  a  war  in  conse- 
quence of  the  hostile  measures  of  America,  we  must  ascertain 
whether  her  allegations  against  us  be  true ;  for,  if  they  be,  we 
may  find,  perhaps,  that  she  is  not  only  not  blamable  for  what 
she  has  now  done,  but  is  entitled  to  praise  for  her  forbearance 
and  moderation. 

That  we  have  violated  the  rights  of  America  *as  a  neutral 
state,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  The  fact  is  not  denied  ;  nor  is 
it  pretended,  that  the  violation  would  not,  in  itself,  be  sufficient 
to  justify  any  degree  of  hostility  on  the  part  of  the  offended 
state.  Indeed,  to  dispute  these  facts,  would  be  to  show  a  total 
disregard  of  truth  ;  for,  we  have  published,  and,  as  far  as  in  us 
lies,  we  have  carried,  and  still  carry  into  execution,  an  inter- 
dict again  ;t  all  trade  on  the  part  of  America,  except  such  as 
we  choose  to  license.  We  have  said  to  her,  that  she  shall  not 
carry  the  produce  of  her  soil  and  exchange  it  for  the  produce 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  13 

<jf  the  soil  of  France,  Italy,  or  Holland.  If  we  meet  with  one 
of  her  ships  laden  with  the  flour  of  Pennsylvania,  and  owned  by 
a  Pennsylvanian  merchant,  bound  to  any  port  of  the  French 
empire,  we  compel  such  ship  to  come  into  some  one  of  our 
ports,  and  there  to  unlade  and  dispose  of  her  cargo,  or  else  to 
pay  duty  upon  it,  before  we  permit  her  to  proceed  on  her  voy- 
age. In  shoit,  we  have  issued  and  acted  upon  such  edicts  as 
establish  an  absolute  control  and  sovereignty  over  the  ships  of 
America,  and  all  that  part  of  the  population  and  property  of 
America  that  are  employed  in  maritime  commerce. 

That  the  rights  of  America  are  herein  openly  violated,  all  the 
world  knows.  Your  Royal  Highness  need  not  be  reminded  of 
the  dispute,  so  ions  continued,  relative  to  the  right  of  senr>h; 
that  is  to  say,  a  right,  on  the  part  of  a  belligerent,  to  search 
merchant  neutral  ships  at  sea,  in  order  to  ascertain  whe- 
ther they  had  on  board  contraband  goods  of  war,  or  goods 
belonging  to  an  enemy.  It  was  contended  by  those  who  denied 
the  right  of  search,  that  no  belligerent  had  a  right  to  search  a 
neutral  at  sea,  in  any  case  ;  and  that,  if  this  point  was  given  • 
up,  the  gr)ods  of  an  enemy,  in  a  neutral  ship,  ought  not  to  be 
seized,  for  that  the  neutrality  of  the  ship  protected  the  goods. 
To  this  doctrine  English  writers  and  statesmen  have  never  sub- 
scribed ;  they  insisted,  that  we  had  a  right  to  search  neutral 
ships  upon  the  high  seas,  and  if  we  found  contraband  articles, 
or  enemy's  goods  on  board  of  them,  to  seize  them,  and,  in  some 
cases,  to  make  ship,  as  well  as  cargo,  lawful  prize.  But,  no 
statesman,  no  lawyer,  no  writer,  ever  pretended,  that  we  had  a 
right  to  seize  in  a  neu'ral  ship  the  goods  of  a  neutral  party. 
No  one  ever  dreamt  of  setting  up  a  right  like  this,  which,  in 
fact,  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  making  war  upon  the  neutrals; 
because  we  do  to  them  the  very  worst  that  we  can  do,  short  of 
wanton  cruelty,  of  which  the  laws  and  usages  of  war  do  not 
allow. 

In  justification  of  the  adoption  of  these  our  measures  towards 
America,  our  government  asserted,  that  Fnnce  had  :  e^itti  tfle 
violation  of  the  neutral  rights  of  America,  and  that  our  measures 
were  in  the  way  of  rtlaliation,  and  that  the  laws  of  war  allowed 
of  retaliation.  It  is  a  singular  species  of  /«?f,  which,  because  a 
weak  nation  has  been  injured  by  one  powerful  nation,  subjects 
it  to  be  injured  by  another.  If  BHcher  were  to  beat  Mr.  Per- 
ceval and  Lord  Liverpool  in  the  sheet,  Crib  would  not,  for  that 
reason,  be  justified  in  beating  them  too  :  this  would,  I  presume, 
be  deemed  a  new  and  most  outrageous  species  of  retaliation  ; 
and  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  belligerent  pugilists  would  soou 
be  sent  to  a  place  where  they  would  have  leisure  to  study  the 
laws  of  War.  But  it  is  alleged  by  our  government,  that  the 
Americana  submitted  to  the  Decrees  of  Napoleon  ;  that  they 


14  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

acquiesced  in  his  violation  of  their  rights  ;  and  that  it  was  just 
in  us  to  treat  them  in  the  same  manner  that  he  had  treated  them, 
because  they  had  so  submitted  and  acquiesced.  The  same 
reason  would  apply  equally  well  in  justification  of  the  above 
supposed  retaliatory  measures  of  Crib,  who  also  might,  with 
just  as  much  truth,  accuse  Mr.  Perceval  and  Lord  Liverpool 
of  submission  and  acquiescence  with  regard  to  Belcher;  for 
they  could  not  avoid  submission  and  acquiescence  to  superior 
force;  they  might  cry  out,  indeed,  and  they  would  cry  out; 
and  so  did  the  Americans,  who,  from  the  first  day  to  the  last  of 
the  existence  of  the  French  Decrees,  ceased  not  to  remonstrate 
against  them,  and  that,  too,  in  the  strongest  terms ;  and,  there- 
fore, there  appears  not  to  have  been  the  slightest  ground  where- 
on to  build  a  justification  of  our  measures  as  measures  of  reta- 
liation. 

But,  sir,  if  our  measures  were  not  justifiable  upon  the  suppo- 
sition that  this  violation  of  neutral  rights  was  be+'un  by  the 
enemy,  surely  they  must  be  declared  to  be  wholly  without  jus- 
tification, if  it  appear  that  we  ourselves  were  the  beginners  in 
this  career  of  violation  of  the  rights  of  America  as  a  neutral 
state ;  and  that  this  is  the  fact  is  clearly  proved  by  the  docu- 
ments which  have  long  ago  been  laid  before  the  public,  but 
which  I  beg  leave  to  call  to  the  recollection  of  your  Royal 
Highness. 

This  rivalship  in  the  violation  of  neutral  rights  began  in  a 
declaration,  on  our  part,  made  to  America  through  her  Minister 
here,  that  she  was  to  consider  the  entrances  of  the  Ems,  the 
Weser,  the  Elbe,  and  the  Trave,  as  in  a  state  of  rigorous  block- 
ade, though  it  was  notoriously  impossible  for  us  to  maintain  such 
blockade  by  actual  forces.  The  grounds  for  this  measure  were 
stated  to  be,  that  the  King  of  Prussia  (and  not  France)  had 
forcibly  and  hostilely  taken  possession  of  various  parts  of  the 
Electorate  of  Hanover  and  other  dominions  belonging  to  his 
majesty,  and  had  shut  English  ships  out  of  the  Prussian  ports. 
This  might  be  a  very  good  reason  for  shutting  the  Ems,  the 
Weser,  the  Elbe,  and  the  Trave,  against  Prussian  ships  ;  but, 
surely  it  gave  ua  no  right  to  shut  them  against  the  ships  of 
America,  whose  government  had  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
King  of  Prussia's  hostile  seizure  upon  the  Electorate  of  Hano- 
ver ;  who  had  neither  aided  him,  abetted  him,  nor  encouraged 
him  in  any  manner  whatever;  and,  it  was  very  hard  that  the 
people  of  America  should  be  made  to  suffer  from  the  result  of 
a  dispute,  be  it  what  it  might,  between  the  King  of  Prussia  and 
the  Elector  of  Hanover.  The  King  of  Prussia  is  closely  con- 
nected by  marriage  with  your  Royal  Highness's  illustrious 
family :  it  is  not,  therefore,  for  me  to  dare  to  presume  that  he 
should  have  been  capable  of  any  thing  unbecoming  his  high 


Letters  of 'William  Cobbett,  Esq.  15 

rank ;  but  this  I  may  venture  to  say,  that,  whatever  his  conduct 
might  be,  there  could  be  no  justice  in  making  the  people,  or  any 
portion  of  (he  people,  of  America  suffer  for  that  conduct. 
Indeed,  sir,  it  appears  to  me,  that  to  involve,  in  any  way  what 
ever,  England  in  this  dispute  about  Hanover,  was  not  very 
closely  conformable  to  that  great  constitutional  Act  by  which 
your  Royal  Highness's  family  was  raised  to  the  throne  of  this 
kingdom,  and  which  Act  expressly  declares,  that  in  case  of  the 
family  of  Brunswick  succeeding  to  the  Throne,  no  war  shall  be 
undertaken  by  England,  for  their  German  dominions,  unless  by 
consent  of  Parliament.  If  the  measure  of  blockade  above 
mentioned  had  produced  war  on  the  part  of  America,  that  war 
would  have  been  made  without  consent  of  Parliament ;  and, 
though  a  measure  fall  short  of  producing  war,  it  may  be  equally 
a  violation  of  the  Act  of  Settlement,  if  its  natural  tendency  be 
to  produce  war,  or  to  cause  England  to  support  warlike  ex- 
penses, which  this  measure  manifestly  has  done,  and  has,  at  last, 
led  to  something  very  nearly  approaching  to  open  war  with 
America,  though,  in  the  mean  while,  Hanover  itself  has  been 
wrested  from  the  King  of  Prussia,  and  formed  into  a  member  of 
another  kingdom. 

Thus,  then,  at  any  rate,  this  attack  upon  the  rights  of  neutrals 
did  not  begin  with  France.  If  it  was  not  begun  by  us,  it  was 
begun  by  the  King  of  Prussia,  though  it  is  not  very  easy  to 
perceive  how  he  could  violate  the  maritime  rights  of  America 
by  any  act  of  his  in  the  heart  of  Germany.  The  Decrees  of 
France  have  grown  out  of  our  measures.  They  carry  in  them- 
selves the  proof  of  this.  The  first  (for  there  are  but  two)  is- 
sued from  Berlin,  was  expressly  grounded  upon  our  Orders 
issued  in  consequence  of  the  conduct  of  the  King  of  Prussia  in 
Hanover  ;  and  thus  the  Emperor  Napoleon  became,  towards  us, 
the  avenger,  as  far  as  he  was  able,  of  that  very  King  of  Prussia, 
whom  he  had  just  driven  from  his  dominions  !  Alas,  sir,  what 
a  scene  was  here  exhibited  to  the  people  of  Europe !  First  the 
King  of  Prussia,  closely  related  to  the  family  of  the  King  of 
England,  seizes  upon  the  German  dominions  of  the  latter  :  the 
latter  protests  against  this,  and,  by  his  Secretary  of  State,  de- 
clares that  he  never  will  make  peace  without  obtaining  the  re- 
storation of  these  dominions  :  while  this  quarrel  is  going  on,  Na- 
poleon marches  against  the  king  of  Prussia,  defeats  him,  drives 
him  from  his  dominions,  takes  Hanover,  the  object  in  dispute, 
and  bestows  it  on  a  third  party  ;  and,  from  the  capital  of  the 
king  of  Prussia's  dominions,  issues  a  decree  against  England, 
avenging  the  cause  of  the  king  of  Prussia ! 

Napoleon,  in  this  his  first  Decree,  declares  England  (who  had, 
by  this  time,  extended  her  blockade  from  the  Elbe  to  the  Port 
«f  Brest)  in  a  state  of  blockade,  and  prohibits  all  trade  and  all 


16  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

commercial  communication  with  England.  But,  this  Decree, 
which  was  little  less  practicable  in  all  cases  than  our  blockade, 
was  declared  to  be  retaliatory,  and  was  to  be  repealed  when- 
ever England  repealed  her  Orders  in  Council  whVh  had  then 
been  issued.  Certainly  this  was  not  the  beginning  Wt  had  be- 
gun, and  that,  too,  under  the  administration  of  those  who  have 
since  so  loudly  censured  the  Orders  in  Council ;  and,  which 
must,  I  presume,  be  a  subject  of  regret  with  your  Royal  High- 
ness, the  stale  paper  in  which  this  beginning  was  announced  to 
the  American  government,  came  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Fox,  who 
appears  to  have  yielded  implicitly  to  the  principles  of  bis  new 
associates  in  politics.  At  any  rate,  this  Decree  of  the  Emperor 
Napoleon  was  not  the  beginning  of  the  open  attacks  upon  neu- 
tral rights  ;  and,  what  is  of  still  more  importance,  it  was  not 
Kapoleon,  but  it  was  the  king  of  Prussia,  who  committed  those 
acts  of  aggression  in  Hanover  which  produced  our  first  of  that 
series  of  measures,  called  the  Orders  in  Council,  and  which  mea- 
sures have  finally  led  to  the  exclusion  of  our  goods  and  our 
ships  from  the  American  ports.  This  is  a  fact  of  great  import- 
ance in  the  dispute,  and  especially  if  that  dispute  should  end 
in  war.  It  will  be  right,  in  that  case,  for  us  to  bear  in  mind  the 
real  grounds  of  the  war ;  the  true  origin  of  it-  And,  endeavour  to 
cast  the  blame  where  we  will,  it  will,  at  last,  be  found  in  the  ag- 
gression of  the  king  of  Prussia  upon  Hanover. 

The  Berlin  Decree  bro^ht  forth  new  Orders  in  Council  from 
us  ;  and  these  brought  from  the  Emperor  Napoleon  the  Decree 
issued  at  Milan,  in  December,  1807.  This  ended  the  series  of 
invasions  of  neutral  rights ;  for,  indeed,  nothing  more  was  now 
left  to  invade.  Both  parties  called  their  measures  retaliatory. 
Crib  having  taken  a  blow  upon  a  third  party ,  in  the  way  of  re- 
taliation on  Belcher,  Belcher  takes  another  blow  upon  the  same 
party  in  the  way  of  retaliation  on  Crib.  Both  parties  declared, 
that  they  were  perfectly  ready  to  repeal  their  Decrees  ;  that 
they  regretted  exceedingly  the  necessity  of  adopting  them  ; 
each  explicitly  promised,  that,  whenever  the  other  gave  up  the 
new  restrictions,  he  would  also  give  them  up  too.  Napoleon 
said  his  measures  had  been  forced  upon  him  by  us  :  we  said  our 
measures  had  been  forced  upon  us  by  him.  The  Americans, 
who  complained  of  both,  were  told  by  us,  that  we  should  always 
be  ready  to  revoke  our  Orders  if  the  enemy  would  revoke  his 
Decrees.  This  was  saying  very  little,  seeing  that  his  Decrees 
had  been  issued  in  consequence  of  our  Orders,  and,  of  course, 
he  was  net  to  be  expected  to  revoke  first,  especially  as  the  De- 
crees themselves  declare  that  their  object  is  to  cause  our  Orders 
to  be  revoked. 

The  American  government,  having  remonstrated  so  long  in 
•vain,  and  seeing  no  likelihood  of  obtaining  redress  by  the 


Letters  of  William  Cobbeit,  Esq.  tf 

means  of  diplomatic  entreaties,  and  jet  not  wishing  to  plunge 
the  country  into  a  war,  resort  to  the  measure  of  exclusion  from 
their  ports,  giving  to  both  parties  an  opportunity  of  preventing 
the  execution  even  of  this  measure  of  demi  hostility.  During 
the  session  of  Congress  in  1809-10,  a  law  was  passed  providing, 
that  if  both  France  and  England  continued  in  their  violation  of 
the  rights  of  America  until  and  after  the  1st  day  of  November, 
1810,  the  ships  and  goods  of  both  should  be  prohibited  from 
entering  the  ports  and  waters  of  the  American  States  ;  that  if 
they  both  repealed  their  obnoxious  Decrees  and  Orders,  then 
the  ships  and  goods  of  both  were  to  have  free  admission ;  that  if 
one  party  repealed  and  the  other  did  not,  then  the  ships  and 
goods  of  the  repealing  party  were  to  be  admitted,  and  the  ships 
and  goods  of  the  non-repealing  party  were  to  be  excluded. 
Napoleon,  the  Americans  say,  has  repealed  :  we  have  not,  and, 
accordingly,  our  ships  and  goods  are  excluded,  while  those  of 
France  are  admitted  into  the  waters  and  ports  of  the  United 
States. 

This  is  one  source  of  the  present  ill  blood  against  America, 
who  is  accused  of  partiality  to  France;  but  before  this  charge 
can  be  established,  we  must  show  that  the  measures  she 
has  adopted  are  not  the  natural  and  necessary  result  of  an  im- 
partial measure  ;  a  measure  in  execution  of  an  impartial  law.  It* 
a  pardon  were  tendered  to  Belcher  and  Crib  upon  condition  that 
they  ceased  to  beat  the  parties  as  above  supposed,  and  if  Bel- 
cher persisted  while  his  enemy  did  not,  the  injured  parties 
could  not  fairly  be  accused  of  partiality  in  pardoning  Crib 
while  they  punished  Belcher.  The  American  government  and 
people  may,  however,  without  any  crime,  or,  at  least,  without 
giving  us  any  just  cause  of  complaint  against  them,  like,  and 
show  that  they  like,  Napoleon  better  than  Messrs.  Perceval  and 
Rose,  and  Lords  Liverpool  and  Wellesley.  It  may  be  bad 
taste  in  the  American  government  and  people  to  entertain  such 
a  liking  ;  it  may  be  great  stupidity,  and  almost  wilful  blindness, 
that  prevents  them  from  perceiving  how  much  more  the  latter 
are  the  friends  of  freedom  than  the  former.  But,  so  long  as  the 
American  government  does  no  act  of  partiality  affecting  us,  we 
have  no  reason  to  complain  :  so  that  justice  is  done  to  a  man 
in  court,  he  has  no  reason  to  complain  of  the  personal  likings  or 
dislikings  of  the  judge  or  the  jury.  The  people  in  America 
look  at  France,  and  at  the  state  of  Europe  in  general,  with  mind* 
pretty  free  from  prejudice.  They  are  in  no  fear  of  the  power 
of  Napoleon.  They  have  amongst  them  no  persons  whose  in- 
terests are  served  by  inflaming  the  hatred  of  the  people  against 
him.  They  reckon  dynasties  as  nothing.  They  coolly  com- 
pare the  present  with  the  former  state  ^of  Europe  ;  and  if  they 
give  the  preference  to  the  present  state  of  things,  it  must  be  be 

3 


18  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

cause  they  think  there  has  been  a  change  for  the  better.  They 
may  be  deceived  ;  but  it  can  be  the  interest  of  nobody  to  de- 
ceive them.  Those  who  have  the  management  of  their  public 
affairs  may  have  a  wrong  bias  ;  but  they  cannot  communicate 
it  to  the  people  ;  for  they  have  no  public  money  to  expend 
upon  a  hireling  press.  The  government  and  people  may  all  be 
deceived  ;  but  the  deception  cannot  be  the  effect  of  any  cheat 
practised  upon  either  ;  it  cannot  be  the  work  of  bribery  and 
corruption.  If,  therefore,  the  government  and  people  of  Ame- 
rica do  really  entertain  a  partiality  for  Napoleon,  we  have,  on 
that  account,  good  ground  for  regret,  but  certainly  none  for 
Complaint  or  reproach.  They  have  a  right  to  like  and  to  dis- 
like whom  they  please.  We,  for  instance,  have  a  great  attach- 
ment to  the  court  and  government  of  Sicily,  and  also  to  the 
courts  and  ancient  governments  of  Spain  and  Portugal.  We 
should  -not  permit  the  American  government  or  people  to  inter- 
fere with  these  attachments  of  ours ;  and,  I  presume,  it  will, 
therefore,  not  be  thought  reasonable  that  we  should  arrogate  to 
ourselves  the  right  of  judging  whom  the  American  people  and 
government  are  to  like. 

When  we  are  told  of  the  "  partiality  for  France,"  which  is  a 
charge  continually  preferred  against  the  American  government, 
we  should  ask  what  acts  of  partiality  they  have  bsen  guilty  of, 
and  that  is  the  test  by  which  we  ought  to  try  their  conduct  in 
the  present  instance.  They  have  put  their  law  in  force  ;  they 
have  shut  out  our  goods  and  our  ships,  while  they  freely  admit 
those  of  France;  and  this  is  called  partiality,  and  is  made  the 
grounds  of  one  of  those  charges,  by  the  means  of  which,  it  ap- 
pea*,to  rne,  that  the  venal  press  in  England  is  endeavouring  to 
prepare  the  minds  of  the  people  for  a  war  with  the  American 
States.-  But,  to  make  out  this  charge,  it  must  be  shown,  that 
the  French  have  done  nothing  that  we  have"  not  done  in  the 
way  of  repealing  the  injurious  Decrees.  Indeed,  this  is  what 
is  asserted ;  and,  though  a  regular  communication  has  been  made 
to  the  American  gorernment  by  the  French  government,  that 
the  Berlin  and  Milan  Decrees  are  revoked  ;  though  they  are 
by  the  American  Minister  here  asserted  to  be  revoked,  anil 
no  longer  in  operation  ;  still  it  is  asserted  by  some  here,  that 
they  are  not  revoked.  The  American  government,  however, 
is  satisfied  that  they  are  revoked,  and  it  has,  accordingly,  put 
its  exclusion  law  in  force  against  us. 

To  settle  this  point  of  fact  the  Americans  have  not  been 
told  what  sort  of  evidence  we  shall  require.  They  present  us 
the  letter  of  the  French  minister  for  foreign  affairs  to  the  Ame- 
rican minister  at  Paris,  telling  him  that  the  Decrees  are  revoked, 
and  that  the  revocation  is  to  go  into  effect  on  the  1st  of  Novem- 
ber, 1810.  This  we  say  is  nothing  at  all,  because  it  is  clogged 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  19 

with  this  remark,  "  it  being  clearly  understood  that  the  English 
Orders  in  Council  are  to  be  revoked  at  the  same  time"  Cer- 
tainly. This  was  to  be  naturally  expected  ;  and  England  had 
promised  that  it  should  be  so.  The  Decrees  have  actually  beerf 
revoked,  without  this  condition  being  complied  with  on  our  part; 
but,  if  they  had  not,  it  was  to  be  expected  that  the  American 
government  would  put  their  exclusion  law  in  force  against  us 
at  the  time  appointed  ;  because  we  ought  to  have  declared  our 
intention  at  the  same  time,  and  in  the  same  manner  that  the 
French  declared  their  intention.  It  was  in  the  month  of  August, 
1810,  that  Mr.  Pinckney,  the  American  minister  in  London, 
communicated  to  our  Foreign  Secretary,  Lord  Wellesley,  that 
the  French  decrees  were  revoked,  and  that  the  revocation  was 
to  take  effect  from  the  1st  day  of  the  then  ensuing  November. 
The  answer  which  Mr.  Pinckney  expected,  was,  that  ths  En- 
glish Orders  in  Council  were  also  revoked,  and  that  the  revoca- 
tion would  take  effect  from  the  1st  of  November.  That  he  had  a 
right  to  expect  this  will  clearly  appear  from  the  communications 
made  to  the  American  government  by  our  ministers  in  that  coun- 
try, who,  in  answer  to  the  complaints  of  America  upon  this  score» 
always  declared  that  the  king,  their  master,  was  exceedingly 
grieved  to  be  compelled  to  have  recourse  to  such  measures ; 
that  nothing  could  be  further  from  his  heart,  or  more  repugnant 
to  his  feelings,  than  a  wish  to  injure  or  harass  the  commerce  of 
neutrals ;  that  he  had  taken  these  odious  measures  in  pure  self 
defence  ;  that  it  was  his  "earnest  desire"  (I  quote  one  of  these 
declarations)  "  to  see  the  commerce  of  the  world  restored  to 
that  freedom  which  is  necessary  for  its  prosperity,  and  his  rea- 
diness to  abandon  the  system,  which  had  been  forced  upon  hioi, 
whenever  the  enemy  shou'd  retract  the  principle*  which  had 
rendered  it  necessary."  When,  therefore,  Mr.  Pinckney,  who 
had  this  declaration  before  him,  communicated  to  Lord  Welles- 
ley  the  fact  that  the  French  Decrees  were  revoked,  and  that 
the  revocation  was  to  go  into  effect  on  the  1st  of  November,  he 
had  a  full  right  to  expect  an  immediate  revocation  of  our  Or- 
ders in  Council,  and  an  assurance  that  such  revocation  should 
go  into  effect  on  the  same  day  when  the  French  revocation  was 
to  go  into  effect.  But,  instead  of  this,  he  received  for  answer, 
that  we  would  revoke  our  Orders  when  the  revocation  of  the- 
French  Decrees  should  have  actually  taken  place.  But  there 
was  another  condition,  "  that  whenever  the  repeal  of  the  French 
Decrees  shall  have  actually  taken  plaice,  and  the  commerce  of 
neutral  nations  shall  have  been  restored  t )  the  condition  in. 
whi^h  it  stood  previously  to  the  promulgation  of  these  Decrees" 
then  the  King  will  relinquish  im  present  system.  Here  is  a 
second  condition.  We  do  not  here  content  ourselves  with  the 
revocation  of  the  Decrees ;  no,  nor  even  with  that  revocation 


26  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

having  actually  gone  into  effect.  We  call  for  something  mere, 
and  that  something  greater  too  than  the  thing  for  which  we  be- 
fore contended.  We  here  say,  that,  before  we  revoke  our  Or- 
ders, we  will  have  the  neutral  commerce  restored  to  its  old  foot- 
ing ;  that  is,  that  we  will  have  the  "  Continental  System"  aban- 
doned by  France,  with  which  system  the  Americans  have  no- 
thing to  do,  and  with  regard  to  which  they  can  have  no  right  to 
say  a  word,  it  being  a  series  of  measures  of  internal  regulation, 
not  trenching  upon  nor  touching  their  maritime  commerce.  It 
is  a  matter  wholly  distinct  from  the  other;  it  relates  to  the  re- 
ception or  exclusion  of  English  goods  in  France  and  her  depen- 
dencies ;  and,  if  we  are  to  make  America  answerable  for  the 
conduct  of  France  in  that  respect,  it  would  follow  that  France 
would  have  a  right  to  make  her  answerable  for  our  conduct  in 
excluding  the  goods  of  France  from  the  ports  of  England. 

We  had,  it  appears  to  me,  no  right  to  require  any  thing  of 
America,  previously  to  our  revocation  of  the  obnoxious  Orders, 
than  an  official  and  authenticated  declaration  that  the  French 
Decrees  were  revoked.  And  what  more  could  we  ask  for  than 
was  tendered  to  us,  I  am  at  a  loss  to  conjecture.  The  French 
government  officially  informed  the  American  government  that 
the  Decrees  were  revoked,  and  that  the  revocation  was  to  have 
effect  on  the  1st  of  November.  This  was  officially  communi- 
cated to  us  by  the  American  government  through  their  accre- 
dited minister.  We  were,  therefore,  to  give  credit  to  the  fact. 
But  no :  we  stop  to  see  the  1st  of  November  arrive.  This  was 
not  the  way  to  convince  America  of  our  readiness,  our  earnest 
desire,  to  see  neutral  commerce  restored  to  freedom.  The  course 
to  pursue,  in  order  to  give  proof  of  such  a  disposition,  was  to 
revoke  our  Orders  in  Council,  and  to  declare  (hat  the  revocation 
would  begin  to  be  acted  upon  on  the  1st  of  November.  This 
would  have  been  keeping  pace  with  the  French ;  and,  if  we  had 
found  that  the  revocation  did  not  go  into  operation  in  France 
on  the  1st  of  November,  we  should  have  lost  nothing  by  our  re- 
vocation ;  for  we  might  immediately  have  renewed  our  Orders 
in  Council,  and  we  should  then  have  continued  them  in  force, 
having  clearly  thrown  all  the  blarne  upon  the  enemy. 

This  line  of  conduct  would,  too,  have  been  perfectly  conso- 
nant with  our  professions  to  the  American  government,  to  whom, 
in  1 808,  onr  minister  had  declared,  that,  in  order  to  evince  the 
sincerity  of  our  desire  to  remove  the  impediments  to  neutral 
commerce,  we  were  willing  to  follow  the  example  of  France  in 
the  way  of  revocation,  or,  to  proceed  step  for  step  with  her  in 
the  way  of  relaxation.  Our  minister,  upon  the  occasion  here 
alluded  to,  in  communicating  the  several  Orders  in  Council  to 
the  American  government,  declared  that  "  the  king  felt  great 
regret  at  the  necessity  imposed  upon  him  for  such  an  interfe- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  21 

rence  with  neutral  commerce,  and  he  assured  the  American 
government,  that  his  Majesty  would  readily  follow  the  example, 
in  case  the  Berlin  Decree  should  be  rescinded  ;  or,  would  pro- 
ceed, part  passu  with  France,  in  relaxing  the  rigour  of  their 
measures."  Agreeably  to  this  declaration,  we  should,  it  clear- 
ly appears  to  rne,  have  done  exactly >what  France  did  in  Au- 
gust, 1810,  and  not  evaded  it  by  saying  that  we  would  revoke 
after  her  revocation  should  have  been  actually  put  into  opera- 
tion ;  that  is  to  say,  that  we  would  condescend  to  begin  after 
France  had  ended. 

This  is  the  view,  may  it  please  your  Royal  Highness,  which 
clear  and  unclouded  reason  takes  of  this  matter.  This  is  the 
light  in  which  it  has 'been  seen  by  the  American  government, 
and  by  the  people  of  that  country,  who,  though  they  do  not 
wish  for  war,  will  assuredly  not  censure  those  who  manage 
their  affairs  for  acting  as  they  have  done  upon  this  occasion. 
The  measure  of  exclusion  adopted  against  us  by  America  is 
too  advantageous  to  France  for  the  latter  not  to  act  upon  the 
revocation  of  her  Decrees;  and,  indeed,  there  appears  now  not 
to  be  the  smallest  doubt,  that,  as  far  as  relates  to  America,  (and 
she  is  in  reality  the  only  neutral,)  the  Decrees  are,  in  deed  as 
well  as  in  word,  revoked.  It  is  notorious  that  our  Orders 
are  not  revoked ;  and,  for  my  part,  I  am  wholly  at  a  loss 
to  form  an  idea  of  the  grounds  upon  which  any  complaint 
against  America  can  be  founded,  as  far  as  relates  to  this  part 
of  the  dispute. 

In  a  future  Letter  I  shall  submit  to  your  Royal  Highness 
some  remarks  relating  to  the  affair  of  the  Little  Belt,  and  shall 
endeavour  to  lay  before  you  the  real  state  of  that  case,  and  the 
consequences  which  would  naturally  arise  from  a  rupture  with 
America,  or  from  a  prolongation  of  the  present  quarrel. 

I  am,  &c.  &c. 

WM.  COBBETT. 

State  Prison,  Newgate,  Thursday,  29th  August,  1811. 


LETTER  II. 

TO  THE  PRIJYCE  REGENT. 

Sir, 

INTELLIGENCE,  received  since  the  date  of  the  former  Let- 
ter which  I  did  myself  the  honour  to  address  to  your  Royal 
Highness,  makes  it  more  imperious  upon  us  to  examine  well  the 
grounds  upon  which  we  are  proceeding  with  regard  to  the 
American  States.  The  President  has  called  the  Congress  to- 
gether ;  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  of  his  object  being  to  pro- 


22  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

pose  lo  them,  for  their  approbation,  some  measure  more  of  a 
warlike  character  than  any  which  he  has  hitherto  adopted;  nor 
can  we  it  seems  to  me,  be  at  all  surprised  at  this,  if,  as  is  rumour- 
ed, it  be  true  that  Mr.  Foster,  our  new  minister  in  America,  has 
made  a  communication  to  the  American  government,  making 
the  revocation  of  our  Orders  in  Council  depend  upon  the  con- 
duct of  Napoleon  as  to  the  Continental  System. 

The  rise  and  progress  of  the  Orders  in  Council  and  of  the 
French  Decrees  have  already  been  noticed,  and  sufficiently 
dwelt  upon  ;  it  has  been  shown,  that  the  grounds  of  the  present 
dispute,  namely,  the  flagrant  violation  of  neutral  rights,  did  not 
originate  with  France,  but  with  England,  or,  if  not  with  England, 
with  Prussia:  it  has  been  shown,  and  no  one  will  attempt  to 
deny  the  fact,  that  the  French  Decrees  were  passed  after  the 
issuing  of  our  Orders  in  Council ;  that  they  were  passed  ex- 
pressly in  the  way  of  retaliation;  that  they  were  to  be  revoked 
when  we  revoked  our  Orders.  It  has  been  shown  that  we 
professed  to  be  animated  wilh  a  sincere  and  most  earnest  desire 
to  revoke  our  Orders,  and,  indeed,  that  we  expressly  declared 
that  we  would  revoke  them  whenever  the  French  would  i  evoke 
their  Decrees.  It  has  been  shown  that  the  French  officially 
informed  the  American  government  that  the  Decrees  were 
revoked,  and  that,  thereupon,  the  American  government  called 
upon  us  to  fulfil  our  promises  in  revoking  our  Orders  ;  but  that 
we  did  not  do  this;  that  we  evaded  the  fulfilment  of  these  pro- 
mises, and,  in  short,  that  we  have  not  revoked,  or  softened  the 
rigour  of  any  part  of  our  Orders.  It  has,  in  a  word,  been  shown, 
that  while  the  French  have  revoked  their  Decrees,  while  they, 
in  consequence  of  the  remonstrances  of  America,  have  ceased 
to  violate  her  neutral  rights,  we  persevere  in  such  violation. 

The  pretext  for  this  was,  at  first,  that  the  Emperor  Napoleon, 
though  he  said  he  had  revoked  his  Decrees,  had  not  done  it, 
and  meant  not  to  do  it.  This,  may  it  please  your  Royal  High- 
ness, was,  it  appears  to  me,  a  very  strange  kind  of  language  to 
use  towards  other  powers.  It  was  treating  the  American  go- 
Ternment  as  a  sort  of  political  ideot.  It  was  telling  it  that  it  did 
not  understand  the  interests  of  America,  an'd  that  it  was  un- 
worthy to  be  entrusted  with  power.  And,  it  was  saying  to  the 
Emperor  of  France,  that  he  was  to  be  regarded  as  shut  out  of 
the  pale  of  sovereigns ;  that  he  was  on  no  account  to  be  believed ; 
that  no  faith  was  to  be  given  to  the  official  communications  of 
his  ministers,  or  of  any  persons  treating  in  his  name.  Thus, 
then,  the  door  against  peace,  against  exchange  of  prisoners, 
against  a  softening  of  the  rigours  of  war  in  any  way,  or  in  any 
degree,  was  forever  barred  ;  and  the  termination  of  war  was,  in 
fact,  made  to  depend  upon  the  death  ot  Napoleon. 

But  this  pretext  could  not  last  long;  ior  the  Decrees  were 


Letters  of  William  Cobbctt,  Esq.  23 

actually  revoked ;  the  revocation  went  into  effect ;  and  those 
Decrees  are  now  wholly  dead  as  to  any  violation  of  the  neutral 
rights  of  America.  It  was,  therefore,  necessary  to  urge  some 
new  objection  to  the  revocation  of  our  Orders  in  Council;  and 
it  is  now  said,  that  Mr.  Foster  has  demanded  that,  as  a  condi- 
tion of  the  revocation  of  our  Orders  in  Council,  the  French 
shall  revoke  all  the  commercial  regulations  which  they  have 
adopted  since  the  Orders  in  Council  were  issued  ;  that  is  to  say, 
that  Napoleon  shall  give  up  what  he  calls  the  Continental  Sys- 
tem, and  admit  English  goods  into  the  Continent  of  Europe. 

I  do  not  say,  may  it  please  your  Royal  Highness,  that  Mr. 
Foster  has  been  instructed  to  make  such  a  demand  :  I  state  the 
proposition  as  I  find  it  described  in  our  own  public  prints;  but 
this  I  can  have  no  hesitation  in  saying,  that  a  proposition  so  re- 
plete  with  proof  of  having  flowed  from  impudence  and  ignorance 
the  most  consummate,  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  history  of  the  di- 
plomacy of  the  universe.  The  government  of  America  can 
have  no  right  whatever  to  interfere  with  the  internal  regulations 
of  the  French  empire,  or  any  other  country ;  and  the  Continent- 
al System,  as  it-  is  called,  consists  merely  of  internal  regulations. 
These  regulations  have  nothing  at  all  to  do  with  the  rights  of 
neutrals  ;  they  do  not  violate,  in  any  degree,  any  of  those  rights ; 
and,  therefore,  America  cannot,  without  setting  even  common 
sense  at  defiance,  be  called  upon  to  demand  an  abandonment  of 
that  system. 

But,  sir,  permit  me  to  stop  here,  and  to  examine  a  little  into 
what  that  system  really  is.  It  forbids  the  importation  into  the 
empire  of  Napoleon,  and  the  states  of  his  allies,  of  any  article  being 
the  manufacture  or  produce  of  England  or  her  colonies.  This, 
in  a  few  words,  is  the  Continental  System.  And  your  Royal 
Highness  certainly  need  not  be  reminded;,  that  it  is  a  system 
which  has  been  very  exactly  copied  from  the  commercial  code 
of  England  herself.  Your  Royal  Highness's  ministers,  and 
many  members  of  Parliament,  have  spoken  of  this  system  as  the 
effect  of  vindictivenesa  on  the  part  of  Napoleon  ;  as  the  effect 
of  a  mad  despotism  which  threatens  Europe  with  a  return  of  the 
barbarous  ages;  but  I  see  nothing  in  this  system  that  has  not 
long  made  part  of  our  own  system.  It  is  notorious,  that  the 
goods  manufactured  in  France  are  prohibited  in  England  ;  it  is 
notorious  that  French  wine  and  brandy  are  forbidden  to  be 
brought  hither;  in  short,  it  is  notorious  that  no  article  being  the 
manufacture  or  produce  of  France  is  permitted  to  be  brought 
into  England  ;  and  that  seizure,  confiscation,  fine,  imprisonment, 
and  ruin  attend  all  those  who  act  in  infraction  of  this  our  com- 
mercial code. 

This  being  the  case,  it  does  seem   to  require  an  uncommon 
portion  of  impudence  or  of  self  conceit  for  us  to  demand  of  the 


24  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.. 

Americans  to  cause  the  Continental  System  to  he  abandoned  as 
condition  upon  which  we  are  willing  to  cease  to  violate  their 
rights.  But  it  has  been  said,  that  Napoleon  enforces  his 
system  with  so  much  rigour  and  barbarity.  This  does  not  at 
all  alter  the  state  of  the  case  between  us  and  America,  who  has 
no  power,  and,  if  she  had  the  power,  who  has  no  right,  to  inter- 
fere with  his  internal  regulations.  Yet,  sir,  it  is  not  amiss  to 
inquire  a  little  into  the  fact  of  this  alleged  barbarity  of  Napoleon. 
All  rulers  are  content  with  accomplishing  their  object ;  and,  in 
this  case,  it  would  not  be  his  interest  to  inflict  greater  penalties 
than  the  accomplishing  of  his  object  required.  Our  own  laws 
against  smuggling  are  not  the  mildest  in  the  world ;  and  we 
have  seen  them  hardened,  by  degrees,  till  they  answered  the 
purpose  that  the  government  had  in  view.  We  have  been  told, 
indeed,  that  Napoleon  punishes  offences  against  his  commer- 
cial code  with  enormous  fines,  with  imprisonment,  and  we  have 
heard  of  instances  where  he  has  resorted  to  the  punishment  of 
death.  These  severities  have  been  made  the  subject  of  most 
grievous  complaints  against  him  here ;  they  have  brought  down 
upon  him  reproaches  the  most  bitter :  they  have  been  cited  as 
proofs  indubitable  of  the  intolerable  despotism  under  which  his 
people  groan.  But,  sir,  I  have  confidence  enough  in  your  justice 
and  magnanimity  to  remind  you,  that  there  is  nothing  which  hif 
commercial  code  inflicts ;  that  there  is  nothing  in  any  of  the  pun- 
ishments that  even  rumour  has  conveyed  to  our  ears  ;  no,  nothing 
in  any  of  these  surpassing  in  severity ;  nay,  nothing  in  any  of 
them  equalling  in  severity,  the  punishments  provided  for  in  the 
commercial  code  of  England,  having  for  their  object,  towards 
France,  precisely  that  in  view  which  the  Continental  System 
has  in  view  towards  England,  namely,  her  embarrassment,  and, 
finally,  her  overthrow. 

In  support  of  this  assertion  I  could  cite  many  of  the  acts  in 
our  statute  book ;  but  I  allude  particularly  to  that  which  was 
passed  in  the  month  of  May,  1793,  at  the  breaking  out  of  the 
war  against  the  republicans  of  France.  That  act,  which  ap- 
pears to  have  been  drawn  up  by  the  present  Lord  Chancellor, 
makes  it  high  treason,  and  punishes  with  death,  and  also  with 
forfeiture  of  estates,  all  those  persons,  residing  or  being  in  Great 
Britain,  who  shall  have  any  hand  whatever,  either  directly  or 
indirectly,  in  selling  any  goods  (mentioned  in  the  said  act)  to 
the  French  government,  or  to  any  body  residing  in  French  terri- 
tories. This  act  punishes,  in  the  same  awful  manner,  any  one 
•who  shall  send  a  bank  note  to  any  one  residing  in  the  French 
territory,  or  shall  have  any  hand,  in  the  most  distant  manner,  in 
causing  such  notes  to  be  sent.  It  punishes  in  the  same  manner 
any  person,  residing  or  being  in  Great  Britain,  who  shall  have 
any  hand  in  purchasing  any  real  property  in  any  country  under 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  2i 

the  dominion  of  France ;  and  it  extends  its  vengeance  to  all 
those,  who,  in  Ihe  most  distant  manner,  shall  have  any  hand  in 
swh  transaction.  This  act  is  the  '27\h  chap,  of  the  33d  year 
of  the  reign  of  George  the  Third  ;  and  1  have  never  seen  and 
never  heard  of  any  act  or  edict  that  dealt  out  death  and  de- 
struction with  so  liberal  a  hand. 

It  was  said  at  the  time,  by  the  present  Lord  Chancellor,  and 
by  the  greater  part  of  those  men  who  compose  your  Royal 
Highness's  ministr),  that  this  act,  terrible  as  it  was,  was  de- 
manded by  the  safety  of  the  nation.  This  Mr.  Fox  denied, 
and  he  strenuously  laboured  to  prevent  the  passing  of  an  act  so 
severe.  I  shall  offer  no  opinion  upon  this  matter  ;  but  it  is  cer- 
tain that  the  code  of  Napoleon  is  not,  because  it  cannot  be, 
more  terribly  severe  than  this  art ;  and  this  being  the  case, 
common  decency  ought  to  restrain  those  who  justified  this  act 
from  uttering  reproaches  against  the  author  of  the  continental 
code.  Our  government  then  said,  that  the  act  of  17J)3  was 
necessary,  in  order  to  crush  the  revolution  that  had  reared  its 
head  in  France,  and  that  was  extending  its  principles  over  Eu- 
rope. They  justified  the  act  upon  the  ground  of  its  necessity. 
So  does  Napoleon  his  code.  -He  says,  that  that  code  is  neces^ 
sary  to  protect  the  continent  against  the  maritime  despotism 
and  the  intrigues  of  England.  His  accusations  against  us  may 
be  false,  but  he  is  only  retorting  upon  us  our  accusations  against 
France  ;  and  between  two  such  powers,  there  is  nobody  to 
judge.  In  truth,  our  government  passed  its  act  of  I7y3,  be- 
cause it  had  the  will  and  the  power  to  pass  and  to  enforce  it ; 
and  Napoleon  has  established  his  continental  system,  because 
he  also  has  the  will  and  the  power.  It  is  to  the  judgment  of  the 
world  that  the  matter  must  be  left,  and  I  beseech  your  Royal 
Highness  to  consider,  that  the  world  will  judge  of  our  conduct 
according  to  the  evidence  which  it  has  to  judge  from,  and  that 
that  judgment  will  leave  wholly  out  of  view  our  interests  anil 
our  humours. 

To  return,  and  apply  what  has  here  been  said  to  the  case  on 
which  I  have  the  honour  to  address  your  Royal  Highness,  what 
answer  would  have  been  given  to  America,  if  she,  in  tiie  year 
1793,  had  demanded  of  our  government  the  rescinding  of  the 
act  of  which  I  have  just  given  a  faint  description?  In  sup- 
posing, even  by  the  way  of  argument,  America  to  have  taken 
such  a  liberty,  I  do  a  violence  to  common  sense,  and  commit  an 
outrage  upon  diplomatic  decorum  ;  and  it  is  quite  impossible  to 
put  into  words  an  expression  of  that  indignation  which  her  con- 
duct would  have  excited.  And  yet,  sir,  there  appears  to  me 
to  be  no  reason  whatever  for  our  ex|.ecting  America  to  be  per- 
mitted to  interfere  with  Napoleon's  rontuienial  system,  unless 
we  admit  that  sue  had  a  right  to  interfere  with  our  act  of  If 93, 

4 


26  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

The  dispute  between  us  and  America  relates  to  the  acknow- 
ledged rights  of  neutral  nations.  These  rights  of  America  we 
avow  thai  we  violate.  We  have  hitherto  said,  that  we  were 
ready  to  cease  such  violation  as  soon  as  the  French  did  the 
same  ;  but  now,  if  we  are  to  believe  the  intelligence  from  Ame- 
rica, and  the  corresponding  statements  of  our  public  prints,  we 
have  shifted  our  ground,  arid  demand  of  America  that  she  shall 
cause  the  continental  system  to  be  done  away,  or,  at  least,  we 
tell  her  that  it  shall  be  done  away,  or  we  will  not  cease  to  violate 
her  rights. 

The  language  of  those  who  appear  to  be  ready  to  justify  a 
refusal,  upon  the  ground  above  stated,  to  revoke  our  Orders  in 
Council,  is  this :  that  it  was  natural  to  expect  that  the  revoca- 
tion would  be  made  to  depend  upon  a  real  and  effectual  aboli- 
tion of  the  French  Decrees  ;  that  the  revocation  is  merely  no- 
minal unless  all  ihe  regulations  of  Napoleon,  made  since  1806, 
are  also  repealed  ;  that,  when  these  latter  are  repealed,  it  will  be 
righl  for  America  to  call  upon  us  for  a  repeal  of  our  Orders  in 
Council,  and  not  before  ;  and,  it  is  added,  that  the  American 
President  will  not  have  the  support  of  the  people,  if  he  attempt 
to  act  upon  any  other  principles  than  these.  So  that,  as  your 
Ro_yal  Highness  will  clearly  perceive,  these  persons  imagine,  or, 
at  least,  they  would  persuade  the  people  of  England,  that  un- 
less the  President  insist  upon  the  admission  of  Englisk  manu- 
factures and  produce  into  the  dominions  of  France,  he  will  not 
be  supported  by  the  people  of  America,  in  a  demand  of  En- 
gland, to  cease  to  violate  the  known  and  acknowledged  rights  of 
America.  The  President  is  not  asking  for  any  indulgence  at 
our  hands  :  he  is  merely  asking  for  what  is  due  to  his  country  ; 
he  is  merely  insisting  upon  our  ceasing  to  violate  the  rights  of 
America;  .and,  if  what  the  public  prints  tell  us  be  true,  we  say 
in  answer :  "  We  will  cease  to  violate  your  rights  ;  we  will 
cease  to  do  you  wrong  ;  we  will  cease  to  confiscate  your  vessels 
in  the  teeth  of  the  law  of  nations  ;  but  not  unless  Napoleon  will 
suffer  the  continent  of  Europe  to  purchase  our  manufactures 
and  commerce."  If  my  neighbour  complain  of  me  for  a  griev- 
ous injury  and  outrageous  insult  committed  against  him,  am  I  to 
answer  him  by  saying,  that  I  will  cease  to  injure  and  insult  him, 
when  another  neighbour  with  whom  I  am  at  variance  will  pur- 
chase his  clothing  and  cutlery  from  me  ?  The  party  whom  I 
injure  and  insult  will  naturally  say,  that  he  has  nothing  to  do 
with  my  quarrel  with  a  third  party.  We  should  disdain  the 
idea  of  appealing  to  America  as  a  mediatress,  and,  indeed,  if 
she  were  to  attempt  to  put  herself  forward  in  that  capacity,  in- 
dignation and  vengeance  would  ring  from  one  end  of  the  king- 
dom to  the  other.  Yet  we  are?  it  seems,  to  look  to  her  to  cause 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  27 

the  French  to  do  away  regulations  injurious  to  us,  but  with 
which  America  has  nothing  at  all  to  do. 

As  to  the  disposition  of  the  people  of  America,  your  Royal 
Highness  should  receive  with  great  distrust  whatever  is  s:->.ld> 
corne  from  what  quarter  it  may,  respecting  the  popular  feeluig 
being  against  the  President  and  his  measures.  The  same  round 
of  deception  will,  doubtless,  be  used  here  as  in  all  other  cases 
where  a  country  is  at  \var  with  us.  It  is  now  nearly  twenty 
years  since  we  drew  the  swore'  against  .revolutionary  France  ; 
and  if  your  Royal  Highness  look  back,  you  will  find,  that, 
during  the  whole  of  that  period,  the  people  of  France  have 
been,  by  those  who  have  had  the  power  of  the  press  in  their 
ham  is  in  this  country,  represented  as  hostile  to  their  govern- 
ment, under  all  its  various  forms,  and  as  wishing  most  earnestly 
for  the  success  of  its  enemies.  The  result,  however,  has  been, 
that  the  people  have  never,  in  any  one  instance,  aided  those 
enemies  ;  but  have  made  all  sorts  of  sacrifices  for  the  purpose 
of  frustrating  their  designs.  On  the  contrary,  the  people  in  all 
the  countries  allied  with  us  in  the  war,  have  been  invariably 
represented  as  attached  to  their  government,  and  they  have, 
when  the  hour  of  trial  came,  as  invariably  turned  from  that  go- 
vernment, and  received  the  French  with  open  arms.  After 
these  twenty  years  of  such  terrible  experience,  it  is  not  for  me 
to  presume,  that  your  Royal  Highness  can  suffer  yourself  to  be 
deceived  with  regard  to  the  disposition  of  the  American  peo- 
ple, who  clearly  understand  all  the  grounds  of  the  presen-  lis- 
putef  and  of  whom,  your  Royal  Highness  may  be  assured,  Mr. 
Madison,  in  his  demands  of  justice  at  our  hands,  is  but  the  echo. 
The  Americana  do  not  wish  for  war  :  war  is  a  state  which 
they  dread  :  there  is  no  class  amongst  them  who  can  profit  from 
war  :  they  have  none  of  that  description  of  people  to  whom 
war  is  a  harvest  :  there  are  none  of  those  whom  to  support  out 
of  the  public  Health  the  pretext  of  war  is  necessary:  they 
dread  a  standing  army  :  they  have  witnessed  the  effects  of  such 
establishments  in  other  parts  of  the  world :  they  have  seen 
how  such  establishments  and  loss  of  freedom  go  hand  in  hand. 
But  these  considerations  will  not,  I  am  persuaded,  deter  them 
from  going  far  enough  into  hostile  measures  to  do  great  injury 
to  us,  unless  we  shall,  by  our  acts,  prove  to  them  that  such 
measures  are  unnecessary. 

The  public  are  told,  and  the  same  may  reach  the  ear  of  your 
Royal  Highness,  (for  courts  are  not  the  places  into  which  truth 
first  makes  its  way,)  that  the  American  President  is  unpopu- 
lar; that  the  people  are  on  our  side  in  the  dispute.  Guard 
your  ear,  I  beseech  you,  sir,  against  such  reports,  which  are 
wholly  false,  and  which  have  their  rise  partly  in  the  ignorance, 
suid  partly  in  the  venality  of  those  by  whom  they  are  propa- 


2«  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

gated.     It  is  a  fact,  on  which  your  Royal  Highness  may  rely? 
that  at  the  last  election  (in  the  aututhn  of  1810)  the  popular 
party  had  a  majority  far  greater  than  at  any  former  period  ;  and 
it  is  hardly  necessary  lor  me  to  say  how  that  party  stands  with 
regard  to  England  ;  for,  from  some  cause  or  other,  it  does  so 
happen,  that  in  every  country  where  there  is  a  description  of 
persons    professing   a  strong    and    enthusiastic  attachment  to 
public  liberty,  they  are  sure  to  regard  England  as  their  ene- 
my.    We  are  told  that  these  are  all  sham  patriots  ;  that  they 
are   demagogues,   jacobins,   levellers,  and  men  who  delight  in 
confusion  and   bloodshed.     But,    sir,    the  misfortune  is,  that 
these  persons,  in  all  the   countries  that  we  meddle  with,  do  in- 
variably succeed  in  the  end.     Their  side  proves,  at  last,  to  be 
the  strongest.     They  do,  in  fact,  finally  prove  to  form  almost 
the  whole  of  the  people  ;  and,  when  we  discover  this,  we  gene- 
rally quit  their  country  in   disgust,  and,  since   they  "  will  not 
be  true  to  themselves"  we  even  leave  them  to  be  punished  by 
their  revolutions  and  reforms.     In  America,  however,  it  will,  I 
think,  be    very  difficult  for  any  one  to   persuade  your  Roya! 
Highness  that  those  who  are  opposed  to   us  are  sham  patriots, 
and  men  who  wish  for   confusion.     Every   man  in  that  country 
has  enough  to  eat ;  every  man  has  something  to  call  his  own. 
There  are  no  baits  for  sham  patriots  ;  no  fat  places  to  ^cramble 
for  ;  no  sinecures  where  a  single  lazy  possessor  snorts  away  in 
the  course  of  the  year  the  fruit  of  the  labour  of  hundreds  of 
toiling  and  starving  wretches  ;  none  of  those  things,  in  short,  for 
the  sakeof  gaining  which  it  is  worth  while  to  make  hypocrftical 
professions  of  patriotism.     As   an  instance  of  the  sentiments  of 
the  people  of  America  with  regard    to   political  parties,  I  beg 
leave  to   point  out  to  your  Royal  Highness  the  circumstance  of 
Mr.  Piikering  (who  is  held  forth  as  the   great  champion  of 
our  cause  in  America)  having,  at  the  last  election,  been  put  out 
of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  of  which  he  bad  long  been  a 
member,  being  one  of  the  Senators  for  Massachusetts,  his  native 
state.     The  people  of  the  state,  first  elect  the  two  Houses  and 
the  Governor  of  the  state,  and  these  elect  the  persons  to  serve 
them  in  the  Senate   of  the  union.     Thus  Mr.  Pickering  was, 
then,  rejected,  not  merely  by  the  people  ;  not  merely  at  a  popu- 
lar election  ;  but  by  the  deliberate  voice  of  the  whole  legisla- 
ture of  the   state.     And   this,  too,  in  that  part   of  the   union 
called  New-England  ;  in  the  state  of  Massachusetts  too,  which 
state,  it  is  well  known,  takes  the  lead  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
country,  and  which  state  has  always  been  represented  as  dis- 
posed to  divide  from  the  states  of  the  south.      If  we  had  frienri« 
any  where  in  America,  it  was  in  this  state  ;  and  yet,  even  in 
this  state,  we  gee  the  most  unequivocal  proof  of  disaffection  to 
our  cause. 


Letters  of  Williatn  Cobbett,  Es$.  29 

It  is  useless,  sir,  for  us  td  reproach  the  people  of  America 
with  this  disaffection.  They  must  be  left  to  follow  their  own 
tasie.  In  common  life,  if  we  find  anyone  that  does  not  like  us, 
we  generally  endeavour,  if  we  wish  to  gain  his  liking,  to  win 
him  to  it  by  kindness  and  by  benefits  of  some  sort  or  other. 
We  go  thus  to  work  with  animals  of  every  description.  In 
cases  where  we  have  the  power,  we  but  too  often  make  use  of 
that  to  subdue  the  disinclined  party  to  our  will.  But,  where 
we  have  not  the  power,  we  are  seldom  so  very  foolish  as  to  deal 
out  reproaches  against  fhose  whose  good  will  we  do  not  take  the 
pains  to  gain.  It  is,  therefore,  the  height  of  folly  in  us  to  com- 
plain  that  the  Americans  do  not  like  our  government,  and  pre- 
fer to  it  that  of  Napoleon.  The  friends  of  England  accuse 
them  of  giving  support  to  a  despot.  They  do  not  love  despots, 
sir,  you  may  be  assured ;  and,  if  they  like  Napoleon  better 
than  they  do  our  government,  it  is  because  they  think  him  less 
inimical  to  their  freedom  and  their  property.  This  is  the 
ground  of  their  judgment.  They  are  not  carried  away  by 
words  :  they  look  at  the  acts  that  affect  them  ;  and,  upon  such 
grounds,  they  might,  under  some  circumstances,  justly  prefer 
the  Dey  of  Algiers  to  the  ruler  of  any  other  state. 

I  urn,  &c.  &c. 

W;i.  COBBETT. 

State  Prison,  Newgate,  Thursday,  5th  September,  1811. 


LETTER  III. 

TO  THE  PRIJVCE  REGENT: 

Sir, 

BEFORE  I  enter  upon  the  affair  of  the  American  frigate  and 
the  Little  Belt,  permit  me  to  call  your  Royal  Highness's  atten- 
tion, for  a  moment,  to  the  servility  of  the  English  Press,  and 
to  offer  you  some  remarks  thereon. 

Towards  the  end  of  last  week,  a  Council  having  been  held, 
and  an  Order  relative  to  American  commerce  having  been 
agreed  upon,  it  was,  by  those  who  merely  knew  that  some  or- 
der of  this  kind  was  about  to  come  forth,  taken  for  granted* 
that  it  contained  a  prohibition  against  future  imports  from  the 
American  States  into  this  country,  by  way  of  retaliation  fop 
the  American  non-importation  act.  There  needed  no  more. 
The  busy  slaves  of  the  press,  who  endeavour  even  to  antigi- 
pate  the  acts  of  government,  be  they  what  they  may*  with 
their  approbation,  lost  not  a  moment.  This  "  measure  of  re* 
foliation'*  as  they  called  it,  was  then  an  ioatance  of  perfect 


30  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

wisdom  in  your  Royal  Highness's  ministers :  it  was  a  measure 
become  absolutely  necessary  to  our  safety  as  well  as  our  ho- 
nour ;  and,  indeed,  if  it  had  not  been  adopted,  we  are  told, 
that  the  ministers  would  have  been  highly  criminal.  Alas  ! 
it  was  all  a  mislake  :  there  was  no  such  measure  adopted : 
and,  oh!  most  scandalous  to  relate!  these  same  writers  dis- 
covered, all  in  a  moment,  that  it  would  have  been  premature 
to  adopt  such  a  measure  at  present ! 

I  have  mentioned  this  fact  with  a  view  of  putting  your  Royal 
Highness  upon  your  guard  against  the  parasites  of  the  press, 
who  (though  it  may  be  a  bold  assertion  to  make)  are  the  worst 
of  parasites,  even  in  England.  "  Hang  them  scurvy  jades, 
they  would  have  done  no  less  if  Cassar  had  murdered  th^ir 
mothers,"  said  Casca  of  the  strumpets  of  Rome,  who  affected 
to  weep  when  Caesar  fainted,  and  who  shouted  when  he  came 
to  again.  And  be  your  Royal  Highness  well  assured,  that 
these  same  writers  would  have  applauded  your  ministers,  if, 
instead  of  an  Order  in  Council  to  prohibit  the  importation  of 
American  produce,  they  had  issued  an  order  to  strip  the  skin 
over  the  ears  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  or  to  do  any  other  thing, 
however  tyrannical,  however  monstrous,  it  might  have  been. 

Suffer  yourself  not,  then,  sir,  to  be  persuaded  to  act,  in 
any  case,  from  what  is  presented  to  you  in  the  writings  of  these 
parasites.  Reflect,  sir,  upon  the  past.  During  the  whole  of 
the  last  twenty  years,  these  same  writers  have  praised  all  the 
measures  of  the  government.  All  these  measures  were,  accord- 
ing to  them,  the  fruit  of  consummate  wisdom.  Yet  these  mea- 
sures have,  at  last,  produced  a  state  of  things  exactly  the  con- 
trary of  what  was  wished  for  and  expected.  All  the  measures 
which  have  led  to  the  victories  and  conquests  of  France,  that 
have  led  to  her  exaltation,  that  have  produced  all  that  we  now 
behold  in  our  own  situation,  the  paper  money  not  excepted ; 
all  these  measures  have  received,  in  their  turn,  the  unqualified 
approbation  of  the  parasites  of  the  press.  To  know  and  bear 
in  mind  this  fact  will  be,  I  am  certain,  sufficient  to  guard  your 
Royal  Highness  against  forming  your  opinion  of  measures  front 
what  may  be  said  of  them  by  this  tribe  of  time-serving  writers, 
who  have  been  one  of  the  principal  causes  of  that  state  of  things 
in  Europe,  which  is,  even  with  themselves,  the  burden  of  in- 
cessant and  unavailing  lamentation.  Buonaparte  !  "  The  Cor- 
sican  Tyrant !"  The  "  towering  despot."  Buonaparte!  Alas! 
sir,  the  fault  is  none  of  his,  and  all  the  abuse  bestowed  upon 
him  should  go  in  another  direction.  The  fault  is  in  those  who 
contrived  and  who  encouraged  the  war  against  the  republicans 
of  France ;  and  amongst  them,  there  are  in  all  the  world  none 
to  equal  the  parasites  of  the  English  press. 

la  returning,  now,  to  the  affair  of  the  American  frigate 


Letters  of  William  C'obbett,  Esq.  31 

the  Liitle  Belt,  (he  first  thJng  would  be,  to  ascertain  which 
•vessel  fired  the  first  shot.  The  commanders  on  both  les 
deny  having  fired  first ;  and,  if  their  words  are  thus  at  vari- 
ance, the  decisions  of  courts  of  inquiry  will  do  little  in  the 
way  of  settling  the  point.  This  fact,  therefore,  appears  to  me 
not  capable  of  being  decided.  There  is  no  court  wherein  to 
try  it.  We  do  not  acknowledge  a  court  in  America,  and  the 
Americans  do  not  acknowledge  a  court  here.  Each  govern- 
ment believes  its  own  officer,  or  its  own  courts  of  inquiry  ;  and, 
if  the  belief  of  the  American  government  is  opposed  to  what 
ours  believe,  there  is  no  decision  but  by  an  appeal  to  arms. 
But  there  is  a  much  better  way  of  settling  the  matter  ;  and 
that  is,  to  say  no  more  about  it,  which  may  be  done  without 
any  stain  upon  the  honour  of  either  party,  And  this  is  the  most 
desirable,  if  the  supposed  attack  upon  the  Little  Belt  can  pos- 
sibly be  made,  in  some  general  settlement  of  disputes,  to  farm 
a  set-off  against  the  affair  of  the  Chesapeake. 

Yet,  may  it  please  your  Royal  Highness,  there  is  a  view  of 
this  matter  which  it  is  very  necessary  for  you  to  take,  and 
which  will  never  be  taken  by  any  of  the  political  parasites  in  this 
country.  We  are  accustomed  to  speak  of  this  supposed  attack 
upon  the  Little  Belt,  as  if  it  had  taken  place  out  at  sea,  and  as 
if  there  bad  been  no  alleged  provocation  ever  given  to  the 
American  ships  of  war.  But,  sir,  the  Americans  allege,  that 
the  Little  Belt  was  found  in  their  waters ;  that  she  was  one  of 
a  squadron  that  formed  a  sort  of  blockade  of  their  coast  ;  that 
this  squadron  stopped,  rummaged,  and  insulted  their  mer- 
chantmen ;  and  that,  in  many  cases,  it  seized  and  carried  away 
their  own  people  out  of  their  own  ships  within  sight  of  their 
own  shores.  The  way  for  us  to  judge  of  the  feelings  that 
such  acts  were  calculated  to  inspire  in  the  bosoms  of  the  A-ne- 
ricans,  is,  to  make  the  cause  our  own  for  a  moment ;  to  suppose 
an  American  squadron  off  our  coast,  stopping,  rummaging,  and 
insulting  our  colliers,  and,  in  many  cases,  taking  away  their 
sailors  to  serve  them ;  to  be  exposed  to  the  loss  of  life  in  that 
service ;  and,  at  the  very  least,  to  be  taken  from  their  calling 
and  their  families  and  friends. 

Your  Royal  Highness  would,  I  trust,  risk  even  your  life  rather 
than  suffer  this  with  impunity  ;  and  you  would,  I  am  sure,  look 
upon  your  people  as  unworthv  of  existence,  if  they  were  not  rea- 
dy to  bleed  in  such  a  cause.  Your  Royal  Highness  sees,  I  am  fully 
persuaded,  but  one  side  of  the  question,  with  regard  to  America. 
The  venal  prints  -present  you  with  publications  made  by  the 
enemies  of  the  men  at  present  in  power  in  America;  that  is  to 
say,  by  the  opposition  of  that  country.  But  the  fact  is,  that 
till  parties  agree  in  their  complaints  against  our  seizure  of  their 
eeauien,  with  instances  of  which  their  public  prints  abound. 


32  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

This  is  a  thing  so  completely  without  a  parallel,  that  one  can 
hardly  bring  one's  self  to  look  upon  it  as  a  reality  For  an  Ame- 
rican vessel  to  meet  a  packet  between  Cork  and  Bristol,  and  take 
out  some  of  her  sailors,  and  carry  them  away  to  the  East  or 
West  Indies  to  die  or  be  killed,  is  something  so  monstrous,  thai 
one  cannot  bring  one's  self  to  feel  as  if  it  were  real.  Yet,  this  is 
no  more  than  what  the  Americans  complain  of ;  and  if  there 
be  good  ground,  or  only  slight  ground  ;  if  there  be  any 
g-ound  at  all,  for  such  complaint,  the  affair  between  the  Ame- 
rican frigate  and  the  Little  Belt  is  by  no  means  a  matter  to  be 
wondered  at.  I  beg  your  Royal  Highness  to  consider  how 
many  families  in  the  American  states  have  been  made  unhappy 
by  the  impressment  of  American  seamen  ;  how  many  parents 
have  been  thus  deprived  of  their  sons,  wives  of  their  husbands, 
and  children  of  their  fathers  ;  and,  when  you  have  so  consider- 
ed, you  will  not,  I  am  sure,  be  surprised  at  the  exultation  (hat 
appears  to  have  been  felt  in  America  at  the  result  of  the  affair 
with  the  Little  Belt. 

As  a  specimen  of  the  complaints  of  individuals  upon  this 
score,  I  here  insert  a  letter  from  an  unfortunate  impressed  Ame- 
rican, which  letter  I  take  from  the  New  York  Public  Advertiser 
oi  the  31st  July:  "Port  Royal,  Jamaica,  SQlhJune,  1811. 
Mr.  Snowden,  I  hope  you  will  be  so  good  as  to  publish  these 
few  lines.  I,  E.I  win  Bouldin,  was  impressed  out  of  the  barque 
Columbus,  of  Elizabeth  City,  Captain  Traftor,  and  carried  on 
board  his  Britannic  Majesty's  brig  Rliodian,  in  Montego  Bay, 
commanded  by  Captain  Mobary.  He  told  me  iny  protection 
was  of  no  consequence,  he  would  have  me  whether  or  not.  I 
was  born  in  Baltimore,  and  served  rny  time  with  Messrs.  Smith 
and  Buchanan.  1  hope  my  friends  will  do  something  for  me  to 
get  my  clearance,  for  I  do  not  like  to  serve  any  other  country 
but  my  own,  which  I  am  willing  to  serve.  I  arn  now  captain  of 
the  forecastle,  and  stationed  captain  of  a  gun  in  the  waist.  I  ana 
treated  very  ill  because  I  will  not  enter.  They  request  of  me 
to  go  on  board  my  country's  ships  to  list  men,  which  i  refused 
to  do,  and  was  threatened  to  be  punished  for  it.  I  remain  a 
true  citizen  of  the  Uniled  Slates  of  America,  EDWIN  BOULDIN." 

•This,  may  it  please  your  Royal  Highness,  is  merely  a  spe- 
cimen. The  public  prints  in  America  abound  with  documents 
of  a  similar  description  ;  and  thus  the  resentment  of  the  whole 
nation  is  kept  alive,  and  wound  up  to  a  pitch  hardly  to  be  de- 
scribed. 

Astonishment  is  expressed  by  some  persons  in  this  country 
that  tiie  Americans  appear  to  like  the  Emperor  Napoleon  bet- 
ter than  our  government :  but  if  it  be  considered  that  the  Em- 
peror Napoleon  does  not  give  rise  to  complaints  such  as  those 

quoted^  this  astonishment  will  cease.     Men  dislike  those 


Letters  oj  William  Colbett,  Esq.  33 

who  do  them  injury,  and  they  dislike  those  most  who  do  them 
inosf  injury.  In  settling  the  point,  which  is  most  the  friend  of 
real  freedom,  Napoleon  or  our  government,  there  might,  how- 
erer,  be  some  difference  of  opinion  in  America,  where  the  peo- 
ple are  free  to  speak  and  write  as  well  as  to  think,  and  where 
there  are  no  persona  whose  trade  it  is  to  publish  falsehoods. 
But,  whatever  error  any  persons  might  be  led  into  upon  this 
subject,  the  consequence  to  us  would  be  trifling,  were  it  not 
for  the  real  solid  grounds  of  complaints  that  are  incessantly 
staring  the  American  people  in  the  face,  There  may  be  a  very 
harsh  despotism  in  France,  for  any  thing  that  they  know  to  the 
contrary  ;  though  they  are  not  a  people  to  be  carried  away  by 
mere  names.  They  are  a  people  likely  to  sit  down  coolly,  and 
compare  the  present  state  of  France  with  its  state  under  the 
Bourbons  ;  likely  to  compare  the  present  situation  of  the  great 
mass  of  the  people  with  their  former  situation;  and  extremely 
likely  not  to  think  any  the  worse  of  Napoleon  for  his  having 
sprung  from  parents  as  humble  as  those  of  their  Jefferson  or 
Madison.  But,  if  they  should  make  up  their  minds  to  a  settled 
conviction  of  there  being  a  military  despotism  in  France,  they 
will,  though  they  regret  its  existence,  dislike  it  less  than  they 
will  any  other  system,  from  which  they  receive  more  annoy- 
ance ;  and  in  this  they  do  no  more  than  follow  the  dictates  of 
human  nature,  which,  in  spite  of  all  the  wishes  of  man,  will  still 
continue  the  same. 

The  disposition  of  the  American  people  towards  England  and 
towards  France  is  a  matter  of  the  greatest  importance,  and 
should,  therefore,  be  rightly  understood  by  your  Royal  High- 
ness, who  has  it  in  your  power  to  restore  between  America  and 
England  that  harmony,  which  has  so  long  been  disturbed,  and 
which  is  so  necessary  to  save  the  remains  of  freedom  in  the 
world.  I  here  present  to  you,  sir,  some  remarks  of  a  recent 
date,  (25th  July,)  published  in  an  American  print,  called  the 
"  BALTIMORE  AMERICAN."  You  will  see,  sir,  that  the  writer 
deprecates  a  war  with  England  ;  he  does  not  deceive  himself 
or  his  readers  as  to  its  dangers ;  he  makes  a  just  estimate  of  the 
relative  means  of  the  two  nations;  and  I  think  your  Royal 
Highness  will  allow,  that  he  is  not  ignorant  of  the  real  situation 
of  England.  I  cannot  help  being  earnest  in  my  wishes  that 
your  Royal  Highness  would  be  pleased  to  bestow  some  atten- 
tion upon  these  remarks.  They  are,  as  a  composition,  not  un- 
worthy of  the  honour  ;  but,  what  renders  them  valuable  is,  that 
they  do  really  express  the  sentiments  of  all  the  moderate  part 
of  the  people  in  America;  they  express  the  sentiments  which 
predominate  in  the  community,  and  upon  which,  your  Royal 
Highness  may  be  assured,  the  American  government  will  act. 

"  God  forbid  that  we  should  have  war  with  England,  or  any 

5 


34  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

other  nation,  if  we  can  avoid  it.  For  I  am  not  of  the  temper 
of  that  furious  federalist,  who  would  have  unfurled  the  Ameri- 
can colours  long  ago  against  a  less  offender.  I  had  rather  see 
her  starry  flag  floating  in  the  serenity  of  a  calm  atmosphere,  than 
agitated  and  obscured  in  the  clouds,  the  smoke,  and  flashes  of 
war.  But  if  Britain's  unchangeable  jealousy  of  the  prosperity 
of  others,  her  obdurate  pride  and  enmity  to  us,  should  proceed 
upon  pretence  of  retaliating  upon  what  she  has  forced,  to  more 
violent  and  avowed  attacks,  I  trust  that  your  older  and  younger 
Americans  will  meet  her  with  equal  spirit,  and  give  her  blow 
for  blow.  I  have  never  expected  her  to  abstain  from  injury 
while  our  merchants  had  a  ship,  or  our  country  a  seaman,  upon 
the  ocean,  by  any  sense  of  justice — but  have  trusted  only  to 
Ihe  adverse  circumstances  of  her  state,  to  restrain  her  violence 
and  continue  our  peace.  Heaven  grant  that  it  may  be  preserv- 
ed, and,  if  possible,  without  the  distress  of  her  own  partly  inno- 
cent people.  But  if  her  crimes  will  not  allow  it,  if,  urged  by 
the  malignant  passions  she  has  long  indulged,  and  now  heighten- 
ed by  revenge,  she  throws  off  all  restraint,  and  loosens  war  in  al! 
its  rage  upon  us,  then,  as  she  has  shed  blood  like  water,  give  her 
blood  to  drink  in  righteous  judgment.  I  know  too  well  that 
we  must  suffer  with  her.  Dreadful  necessity  only  justifies  the 
contest.  I  call  you  not,  young  Americans,  to  false  glory,  to 
spoil  and  triumph.  You  must  lay  down  your  lives,  endure  de- 
feat, loss,  and  captivity,  as  the  varying  fate  of  war  ordains.  But 
this  must  not  appal  you.  Prepare  for  it  with  unsubmitting 
spirit ;  renew  the  combat  till  your  great  enemy,  like  the  whale 
of  the  deep,  weakened  with  many  wounds,  yields  himself  up  a 
prey  to  smaller  foes,  on  his  own  element.  This,  by  the  order 
of  Providence,  has  been  the  case  before.  When  they  possess- 
ed the  sea  in  full  security,  our  sailors  issued  out  in  a  few  small 
barks,  mounted  with  the  pieces  dug  from  the  rubbish  of  years, 
and  scanty  stores  of  ammunition,  seized  their  trade,  and  baffled 
their  power.  From  such  beginnings  grew  a  numerous  shipping 
that  fearlessly  braved  them  on  their  own  coasts,  and  on  every 
sea ;  that  brought  plenty  into  the  land,  and  at  once  armed  and 
enriched  it,  What  shall  prevent  this  again  ?  Have  our  ene- 
mies grown  stronger,  or  we  become  weaker  ?  Or  has  Heaven 
dropped  its  sceptre,  and  rules  no  more  by  justice  and  mercy  ? 
We  are  now  three  times  as  many  as  in  1775,  when  we  engaged 
them  before.  Our  territory  is  greatly  enlarged,  and  teems  with 
new  and  useful  products.  Cotton,  formerly  known  only  to  the 
domestic  uses  of  a  part  of  the  people  in  two  or  three  states,  is 
now  in  sufficiency  to  supply  clothing  to  all  America,  and  from 
its  lightness  can  be  easi  ly  conveyed  by  land  to  every  quarter. 
Wool,  flax,  and  hemp,  are  furnished  in  increasing  quantities 
every  day.  Machines  for  every  work,  manufactories  fpr  every 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.       ,  35 

useful  article,  are  invented  and  establishing  continually.  Large 
supplies  of  salt,  sugar,  and  spirits  are  provided  for  in  the  west- 
ern countries,  and  can  never  be  wanting  on  the  sea  coast. 
Lead,  iron,  powder,  and  arms,  we  have  in  abundance — parks  of 
artillery  for  the  field  and  fortifications — magazines  and  arsenals 
ready  formed  and  iucreasing — a  sufficient  force  of  disciplined 
troops  and  instructed  officers  to  become  the  basis  of  larger 
armies — a  number  of  ships  of  war,  with  men  and  officers  train- 
ed and  prepared  for  naval  enterprise — a  people  ready,  in  the 
spirit  of  independence,  to  rush  against  the  enemy  that  wrongs 
and  challenges  them — a  government  formed,  established,  ope- 
rating all  round,  with  every  material  for  intelligence,  direction, 
and  power — revenues,  credit,  confidence — good  will  at  home 
and  abroad — justice  and  necessity  obliging,  and  Heaven,  I  hope, 
approving.  It  is  a  common  opinion  that  our  enemies  are  stron- 
ger ;  but  this  appears  an  illusion  from  the  fleets  of  other  nations 
having  been  vanquished  one  by  one,  and  left  the  ocean.  Her 
strength  has  not  increased  in  proportion.  She  indeed  possesses 
a  thousand  ships  of  war,  but  no  increase  of  people.  Her  com- 
merce is  distressed,  her  manufactures  pining,  her  finances  sink- 
ing under  irrecoverable  debts,  her  gold  and  silver  gone,  her 
paper  depreciating,  her  credit  failing;  depending  upon  other 
countries  for  food,  for  materials  of  manufacture,  for  supplies  for 
her  navy  ;  her  wants  increasing  ;  her  means  lessening.  Every 
island  and  port  she  takes  demands  more  from  her,  divides  her 
force,  increases  her  expense,  adds  to  her  cares,  and  multiplies 
her  dangers.  Her  government  is  embarrassed,  her  people  dis- 
tracted, her  seamen  unhappy,  and  ready  to  leave  her  every 
moment.  The  American  commerce  has  been  a  staff  of  support, 
but  will  now  become  a  sword  to  wound  her.  Instead  of  sup- 
plying, we  shall  take  her  colonies.  Her  West  India  posses- 
sions will  be  able  to  contribute  nothing  ;  their  labours  turned  to 
raise  bread.  Their  trade  stopped  as  it  passes  our  coast ;  obliged 
to  make  a  further  division  of  her  forces,  her  European  enemies 
will  seize  the  opportunity  to  break  upon  her  there.  Ireland  is 
in  a  ferment,  and  must  be  watched.  The  East  Indies  bode  a 
hurricane.  She  is  exposed  to  injury  in  a  thousand  places,  and 
has  no  strength  equal  to  the  extension.  She  may  inflict  some 
wounds  on  us,  but  they  cannot  go  deep;  while  every  blow  she 
receives  in  such  a  crisis  may  go  to  her  vitals.  She  will  encoun- 
ter us  in  despair  ;  we  shall  meet  her  with  hope  and  alacrity. 
The  first  occasion  that  has  presented,  proved  this  fact ;  though 
the  sottishness  of  her  Federal  Republican  attempted  to  prevent 
the  volunteer  offering  of  our  seamen  to  Decatur,  as  a  proof  of 
our  inability  to  procure  men.  Had  we  impressed,  as  England 
does  all  her  crews,  what  would  it  have  proved  by  the  same 
logic?  "AN  OLD  AMERICAN." 


36  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

Such,  sir,  are  the  sentiments  of  the  people  of  America. 
Great  pains  are  taken  by  our  venal  writers  to  cause  if  to  be  be- 
lieved, that  the  people  are  divided,  and  that  Mr.  Madison  is  in 
great  disrepute.  This,  as  I  had  the  honour  to  observe  to  you 
before,  is  no  more  than  a  continuation  of  the  series  of  deceptions 
practised  upon  this  nation  for  the  last  twenty  years  with  such 
complete  and  such  fatal  success.  If,  indeed,  the  Americana 
were  to  say  as  much  of  Ireland,  there  might  be  some  justifica- 
tion for  the  assertion  ;  but  there  is  no  fact  to  justify  the  asser- 
tion as  applied  to  America,  in  the  whole  extent  of  which  we 
hear  not  of  a  single  instance  of  any  person  acting  in  defiance  of 
the  law  ;  no  proclamations  to  prevent  the  people  from  meeting  ; 
ne  calling  out  of  troops  to  disperse  the  people  ;  no  barracks 
built  in  any  part  of  the  country  ;  no  force  to  protect  the  govern- 
ment but  simply  that  of  the  law,  and  none  to  defend  the  country 
but  a  population  of  propriftors  voluntarily  bearing  arms.  There 
can  be  no  division  in  America  for  any  length  of  time  ;  for,  the 
moment  there  is  a  serious  division,  the  government  must  give 
may  ;  those  who  rule,  rule  solely  by  the  will  of  the  people  :. 
they  have  no  power  which  they  do  not  derive  immediately 
from  that  source  ;  and,  therefore,  when  the  government  of  that 
country  declares  against  us,  the  people  declare  against  us  in  the 
same  voice. 

The  infinite  pains  which  have  been  taken,  in  this  country,  to 
create  a  belief,  that  the  American  President  has  been  rendered 
unpopular  by  the  publications  of  Mr.  SMITH,  whom  he  had 
displaced,  can  hardly  have  lailed  to  produce  some  effect  upon 
the  mind  of  your  Royal  Highness,  especially  as  it  is  to  be  pre- 
sumed, that  the  same  movers  have  been  at  work  in  all  the  ways 
at  their  command.  I  subjoin,  for  the  perusal  of  your  Royal 
Hiiihness,  an  address  to  this  Mr.  Smith  ;  and,  from  it,  you  will 
perceive,  that,  by  some  of  his  countrymen  at  least,,  he  is  held  in 
that  contempt  which  his  meanness  and  his  impotent  malice  so 
richly  merit.  And,  sir,  1  am  persuaded,  that  his  perfidy  will 
meet  with  commendation  in  no  country  upon  earth  but  this, 
and  in  this  only  amongst  those  who  have  always  been  ready- 
to  receive,  with  open  arms,  any  one  guilty  of  treason  against  his 
Gauntry,  be  his  character  or  conduct,  in  other  respects,  what  it 
might.  This  person  appears  to  have  received  no  injury  but 
what  arose  from  the  loss  of  a  place  which  he  was  found  unfit  to- 
fill,  and  from  which  he  seems  to  have  been  removed  in  the  gen- 
tlest possible  manner.  Yet,  in  revenge  for  this,  he  assaults  the 
character  of  the  President,  he  discloses  every  thing  upon  which 
he  can  force  a  misconstruction;  and,  after  ail,  after  haying  said 
all  he  is  able  to  say  of  the  conduct  of  the  President,  whose  con- 
fidence he  seems  to  have  possessed  for  nearly  eight  years,  he 
brings  forth  nothing  worthy  of  blame,  except  it  be  the  indisere- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  37 

(ton  in  reposing  that  very  confidence.  The  publication  of  Mr. 
Smith  is  calculated  to  raise  Mr.  Madison  and  the  American 
government  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  ;  for,  how  pure,  how  free 
from  all  fault  must  the  government  be,  if  a  Secretary  of  State, 
who  thus  throws  open  an  eight  years'  history  of  the  cabinet,  can 
tell  nothing  more  than  this  man,  animated  bv  malice  exceeding 
that  of  a  cast-off  coquet,  has  been  able  to  tell  ! 

The  praises  which  have,  in  ourpubln  prints,  been  bestowed 
upon  the  attempted  mischief  of  this  Mr.  Smith,  are  by  no 
means  calculated  to  promote  harmony  with  America,  where 
both  the  government  and  the  people  will  judge  of  our  wishes  by 
these  praises.  This  man  is  notoriously  the  enemy  of  the 
American  government,  and,  therefore,  he  ia  praised  here.  This 
is  not  the  way  to  prove  to  the  American  government  that  we 
are  its./riends,  and  that  it  does  wrong  to  prefer  Napoleon  to  us. 
That  we  ought  to  prefer  the  safety  and  honour  of  England  to 
all  other  things  is  certain  ;  and,  if  the  American  government 
aimed  any  blow  at  these,  it  would  become  our  duty  to  destroy 
that  government  if  we  could.  But,  sir,  I  suspect  that  there 
are  some  persons  in  this  country  who  hate  the  American 
government,  because  it  suffers.  America  to  be  the  habitation  of 
freedom.  For  this  cause,  I  am  satisfied,  they  would  gladly,  if 
they  could,  annihilate  both  gov  ernrnent  and  people  ;  and,  in  my 
mind  there  is  not  the  smallest  doubt,  that  they  hate  Napoleon 
beyond  all  description  less  than  they  hate  Mr.  Jefferson  or  Mr. 
Madison.  This  description  of  persons  are  hostile  to  the  exist- 
ence of  liberty  anywhere,  and  that,  too,  for  reasons  which  every 
one  clearly  understands.  While  any  part  of  the  earth  remains 
untrodden  by  slaves,  they  are  not  at  heart's  ease.  They  hate 
the  Emperor  Napoleon  because  they  fear  him;  but,  they  hate 
him  still  more  because  they  see  in  his  conquests  a  tendency  to 
a  reforming  result.  They  are  the  mortal  enemies  of  freedom,  in 
whatever  part  of  the  globe  she  may  unfurl  her  banners.  No 
matter  what  the  people  are  who  shout  for  freedom  ;  no  matter 
of  what  nation  or  climate  ;  no  matter  what  language  they  speak  ; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  enemy  of  freedom  is  invariably,  by 
these  persons,  hailed  as  a  friend.  Such  persons  are  naturally 
averse  from  any  measures  that  tend  to  restore  harmony  between 
this  country  and  America,  which  they  look  upon  as  arebel  against 
their  principles.  What  such  persons  would  wish,  is,  that 
America  should  exclude  not  only  from  her  ships,  but  also  from 
her  soil,  all  British  subjects  without  distinction.  This  would 
exactly  suit  their  tyrannical  wishes.  This  would  answer  one 
of  their  great  purposes.  But  this  they  never  will  see.  No 
government  in  America  would  dare  to  attempt  it.  The  very 
proposition  would,  as  it  ought  to  do,  bring  universal  execratioa 
down  upou  the  bead  of  the  proposer. 


38  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

The  charge  against  the  Americans  of  entertaining  ^.partiality 
for  (he  emperor  of  France  is  one  well  worthy  of  attention; 
because,  if  it  were  true,  it  would  naturally  have  much  weight 
with  your  Royal  Highness.  But,  from  the  address  to  Mr. 
Smith,  which  I  subjoin,  you  will  perceive,  that  the  same  men 
in  America,  who  complain  the  most  loudly  of  Great  Britain, 
condemn,  in  unqualified  terms,  the  system  of  government  exist- 
ing in  France.  And,  which  is  of  much  more  interest,  Mr. 
Jefferson  himself  (supposed  to  be  the  great  founder  and  encoti- 
rager  of  the  partiality  for  France)  expresses  the  same  sentiments, 
as  appears  from  a  letter  of  his,  which  I  also  subjoin. 

With  these  papers  before  you,  sir,  it  will,  I  think,  be  impos- 
sible for  you  to  form  a  wrong  judgment  as  to  the  real  sentiments 
of  the  American  government  and  people  ;  and  I  am  persuaded 
that  you  will  perceive,  that  every  measure,  tending  to  widen  the 
breach  between  the  two  countries,  can  answer  no  purpose  but 
that  of  favouring  the  views  of  France.  Even  the  Order  in  Coun- 
cil, issued  on  the  7th  instant,  will,  I  fear,  have  this  tendency, 
while  it  cannot  possibly  do  ourselves  any  good.  The  impossi- 
bility of  supplying  the  West  India  Islands  with  lumber  and 
provisions  from  our  own  North  American  provinces  is  notorious. 
The  Order,  therefore,  will  merely  impose  a  tax  upon  the  con- 
sumer, without  shifting,  in  any  degree  worth  notice,  the  source 
of  the  supply.  And,  indeed,  the  measure  will  serve  to  show 
what  me  would  do  if  me  could. 

There  is  one  point,  relative  to  the  intercourse  between  Ame- 
rica and  England,  of  which  I  am  the  more  desirous  to  speak, 
because  I  have  heretofore  myself  entertained  and  promulgated 
erroneous  notions  respecting  it  :  I  allude  to  the  necessity  of 
the  former  being  supplied  with  woollens  by  the  latter.  Whence 
this  error  arose,  how  it  has  been  removed  from  my  rnind,  and 
what  is  the  real  state  of  the  fact,  your  Royal  Highness  will 
gather  from  the  preface  (hereunto  subjoined)  to  an  American 
work  on  sheep  and  wool,  which  I,  some  time  ago,  republished, 
as  the  most  likely  means  of  effectually  eradicating  an  error 
which  I  had  contributed  to  render  popular,  and  the  duration  of 
which  might  have  been  injurious  to  the  country.  This  work, 
if  I  could  hope  that  your  Royal  Highness  would  condescend 
to  peruse  it,  would  leave  no  doubt  in  your  mind,  that  America 
no  longer  stands  in  absolute  need  of  English  wool  or  woollens  ; 
that,  if  another  pound  of  wool,  in  any  form,  were  never  to  be  im- 
ported by  her,  it  would  be  greatly  to  her  advantage ;  and,  in 
short,  that  it  comports  with  the  plans  of  her  most  enlightened 
statesmen,  not  less  than  with  her  interests  and  the  interests  of 
humanity,  that  she  should  no  longer  be  an  importer  of  this  for- 
merly necessary  of  life.  This,  sir,  is  not  one  of  the  most 
trifling  of  the  many  recent  revolutions  in  the  affairs  of  the  world ; 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  33 

and  it  is  one  which,  though  wholly  overlooked  by  such  states- 
men as  Lord  Sheffield,  is  well  worthy  of  the  serious  considera- 
tion of  your  Royal  Highness. 

There  is  no  way  in  which  America  is  now  dependent  upon 
us,  or  upon  any  other  country.  She  has  every  thing  within 
herself  that  she  need  to  have.  Her  soil  produces  all  sorts  of 
corn  in  abundance,  and,  of  some  sorts,  two  crops  in  the  year 
upon  the  same  ground.  Wool  and  flax  she  produces  with  as 
much  facility  as  we  do.  She  supplies  us  with  cotton.  She 
has  wine  of  her  own  production  ;  and  it  will  not  be  long  before 
she  will  have  the  oil  of  the  olive.  To  attempt  to  bind  such  a 
country  in  the  degrading  bonds  of  the  custom  house  is  folly,  and 
almost  an  outrage  upon  nature.  In  looking  round  the  world ; 
in  viewing  its  slavish  state ;  in  looking  at  the  miserable  victims 
of  European  oppression,  who  does  not  exclaim :  '*  Thank  God, 
she  cannot  so  be  bound  !"  A  policy,  on  our  part,  that  would 
have  prolonged  her  dependence  would  have  been,  doubtless, 
more  agreeable  to  her  people,  who,  like  all  other  people,  love 
their  ease,  and  prefer  the  comfort  of  the  present  day  to  the 
happiness  of  posterity.  We  might  easily  have  caused  Ameri- 
ca to  be  more  commercial ;  but  of  this  our  policy  was  afraid ; 
and  our  jealousy  has  rendered  her  an  infinite  service.  By  those 
measures  of  ours,  which  produced  the  former  non-irnportation 
act,  we  taught  her  to  have  recourse  to  her  own  soil  and  her  own 
hands  for  the  supplying  of  her  own  wants ;  and  then,  as  now, 
we  favoured  the  policy  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  whose  views  have 
been  adopted  and  adhered  to  by  his  successor  in  the  presiden- 
tial chair. 

The  relative  situation  of  the  two  countries  is  now  wholly 
changed.  America  no  longer  stands  in  absolute  need  of  our 
manufactures.  We  are  become  a  debtor  rather  than  a  creditor 
with  her ;  and,  if  the  present  non-importation  act  continue  in  force 
another  year,  the  ties  of  commerce  will  be  so  completely  cut 
asunder  as  never  more  to  have  much  effect.  In  any  case,  they 
never  can  be  any  thing  resembling  what  they  formerly  were ;  and, 
if  we  are  wise,  our  views  and  measures  will  change  with  the  change 
in  the  state  of  things.  We  shall  endeavour,  by  all  honourable 
means,  to  keep  well  with  America,  and  to  attach  her  to  us  by 
new  ties,  the  ties  of  common  interest  and  unclashing  pursuits. 
We  shall  anticipate  those  events  which  nature  points  out — the 
absolute  independence  of  Mexico,  and,  perhaps,  of  most  of  the 
West  India  islands.  We  shall  there  invite  her  population  to 
hoist  the  banners  of  freedom ;  and,  by  that  means,  form  a  coun- 
terpoise to  the  power  ot  the  emperor  of  France.  This,  at  which 
I  take  but  a  mere  glance,  would  be  a  work  worthy  of  your  Royal 
Highness,  and  would  render  your  name  great  while  you  live,  and 
dear  to  after  ages.  The  times  demand  a  great  and  far-seeing 


40  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

policy.  This  little  island,  rut  off  as  she  will  be  from  all  the 
world,  cannot,  I  am  persuaded,  retain  her  independence,  unless 
she  now  exert  her  energies  in  something  other  than  expeditions  to 
the  continent  of  Europe,  where  every  creature  seems  to  be  ar- 
rayed in  hostility  against  her.  The  mere  colonial  system  is 
no  longer  suited  to  her  state,  nor  to  the  state  of  Europe.  A 
system  that  would  combine  the  powers  of  England  with  those 
of  America,  and  that  would  thus  set  liberty  to  wage  war  with 
despotism,  dropping  the  custom  house  and  all  its  pitiful  regu- 
lations as  out  ot  date,  would  give  new  life  to  an  enslaved  world, 
and  would  ensure  the  independence  of  England  for  a  time  be- 
yond calculation.  But,  sir,  even  to  deliberate  upon  a  system 
of  policy  like  this,  requires  no  common  portion  of  energy. 
There  are  such  stubborn  prejudices,  and  more  stubborn  private 
interests,  to  encounter  and  overcome,  that  I  should  despair  of 
success  without  a  previous  and  radical  change  of  system  at  home  ; 
font,  satisfied  I  am,  that,  to  produce  that  change,  which  would 
infallibly  be  the  groundwork  of  all  the  rest,  there  needs  no- 
thing but  the  determination,  firmly  adhered  to,  of  your  Roval 
Highness. 

To  tell  your  Royal  Highness  what  I  expect  to  see  take  place 
would  be  useless  :  whether  we  are  to  hail  a  change  of  system^ 
or  are  to  lose  all  hope  of  it,  cannot  be  long  in  ascertaining.  If 
the  former,  a  short  delay  will  be  amply  compensated  by  the 
event  ;  and,  if  the  latter,  the  fact  will  always  be  ascertained  too 
aoon.  1  am,  &c.  &c. 

WM.    COBBETT. 

State  Prison,  Newgate,  Thursday,  12th  September,  1811. 


LETTER  IV. 

TO  THE  PRINCE  REGENT, 

Sir, 

IN  looking  back  to  the  real  causes  of  the  miseries  which 
afflict  this  country,  and  of  the  greater  miseries  with  which  it 
appears  to  be  threatened,  yonr  Royal  Highness  will,  I  am  per- 
suaded, find,  that  one  of  the  most  efficient  has  been  the  prosti- 
tution of  the  Press.  It  is,  on  all  hands,  acknowledged,  that  the 
press  is  the  most  powerful  engine  that  can  be  brought  to  operate 
upon  public  opinion,  and  upon  the  direction  of  public  affairs ; 
and,  therefore,  when  usetl  to  a  bad  end,  the  mischief  it  produces 
must  necessarily  be  great.  If  left  free,  it  is  impossible  that  it 
can,  upon  the  whole,  produce  harm ;  because,  from  a  free  press 
free  discussion  will  flow;  and  where  discussion  is  free,  truth 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  41 

will  always  prevail ;  but  where  the  press  is  in  that  state  in 
which  a  man  dares  not  freely  publish  his  thoughts,  respecting 
public  men  and  public  affairs,  if  those  thoughts  be  hostile  to  men 
in  power,  the  press  must  of  necessity  be  an  evil ;  because, 
while  it  is  thus  restrained  on  that  side,  there  will  never  be  want- 
ing slaves  to  use  it  in  behalf  of  those  who  have  the  distribution 
of  the  public  money.  Thus  the  public  mind  receives  a  wrong 
bias,  and  measures  are  approved  of,  which,  in  the  end,  prove  de- 
structive, ancl  which  would  never  have  met  with  approbation 
had  every  man  been  free  to  communicate  his  thoughts  to  the 
public. 

Where  there  is  no  Press  at  all,  or,  which  is  the  same  thing 
as  to  politics,  where  there  is  a  Licenser,  or  person  appointed  by 
the  government  to  sanction  writings  previous  to  their  publica- 
tion, the  press  does  no  good,  to  be  sure,  but  neither  does  it  any 
harm  ;  for  the  public,  well-knowing  the  source  of  what  they 
read,  (and  very  little  they  will  read,)  suffer  it  to  have  no  effect 
upon  their  minds.  They  read  a  licensed  newspaper  as  they 
would  hear  the  charge  of  an  accuser,  who  should  tell  them  be- 
forehand that  the  accused  party  was  not  to  be  suffered  to  make 
any  defence.  But  wh£re  the  press  is  called  free,  and  yet 
where  he  who  writes  with  effect  against  men  in  power,  or  against 
public  measures,  is  liable  to  be  punished  with  greater  severity 
than  the  major  part  of  felons,  the  press  must  be  an  engine  of  in- 
calculable mischief;  because  the  notion  of  freedom  of  the  Press 
is  still  entertajned  by  the  greater  part  of  readers,  while  there 
'exists  this  terrific  restraint  on  him  who  would  write  strongly, 
and,  perhaps,  effectually,  against  public  men  and  public  mea- 
sures, if  it  were  not  for  the  fear  of  almost  certain  ruin. 

Thus  the  press  becomes  a  deceiver  of  the  people ;  it  becomes 
prostituted  to  the  most  pernicious  purposes.  Few  men  of  real 
talent  will  condescend  to  write  with  a  bridle  in  their  mouths  ;  the 
periodical  press  falls,  for  the  far  greater  part,  into  the  hands  of 
needy  adventurers,  who  are  ever  ready  to  sell  their  columns  to 
the  highest  bidder ;  Falsehood  stalks  forth  and  ranges  uncon- 
trolled, while  Truth  dares  not  show  her  face  ;  and,  if  she  ap- 
pear at  all,  it  is  under  so  thick  a  covering,  in  so  crawling  an  at- 
titude, and  with  so  many  apologies  to  power,  that  she  always 
disgraces  her  character,  and  not  unfrequently  injures  her 
cause. 

Hence  we  may  trace  all  the  severe  blows  which  our  country 
has  suffered,  and  which  have,  at  last,  reduced  us  to  a  state 
which  every  man  contemplates  with  a  greater  or  less  degree  of 
apprehension.  At  the  outset  of  the  American  war,  Mr. 
HOKNE  TOOKE,  who  wrote  against  the  project  of  taxing  Ame- 
rica by  force  of  arms,  while  she  was  unrepresented  in  Parlia- 
ment, was  harassed  with  state  prosecutions,  and  was  peat  up  in 

6 


42  Letters  of  William  Cobbetl,  Esq. 

a  jail,  while  Dr.  Johnson  who  wrote  in  defence  of  the  project, 
and  in  whom  \enality  and  pride  contended  for  the  predomi- 
nance, was  caressed  ami  pensioned.  -The  nation,  by  the  means 
of  a  press  thus  managed,  were  made  to  approve  of  the  mea- 
sures against  America  ;  they  were  made  to  expect  the  contest 
to  be  of  short  duration,  and  the  success  to  be  complete.  They 
were  induced  to  give  their  approbation  to  the  sending  of  Ger- 
man troops,  Brunswickers  and  Hessian  mercenaries,  to  make 
war  upon  toe  fe flow-subjects,  the  brethren  of  Englishmen.  If 
we  look  back  to  that  day,  we  shall  see  the  periodical  press  urg- 
ing the  nation  on  to  the  war,  and  promising  a  speedy  and  suc- 
cessful termination  of  it.  The  Americans  were  represented  as 
a  poor.,  contemptible  enemy;  as  ragamuffins,  without  arms  and 
without  commandeis  \  "  destitute,"  as  one  writer  asserted,  "of 
money,  of  arms,  of  ammunition,  of  commanders,  and,  if  they 
had  all  the&e,  they  had  not  courage  to  apply  them  to  their  de- 
fence." Thus  were  the  people  of  England  induced  lo  give 
their  approbation  to  (he  measures  of  the  ministry  at  the  outset; 
and,  by  similar  means,  were  the)  inveigled  info  a  continuation 
of  that  approbation  from  one  campaign  to  another,  and  were 
only  to  be  undeceived  by  the  capture  of  whole  armies  of  Eng- 
lish troops  by  those  whom  they  had  b*een  taught  to  despise. 

To  the  same  cause  may,  in  great  part,  be  attributed  the  war 
against  the  republicans  of  France,  a  war  which  has  laid  low  so 
many  sovereign  princes,  rooted  out  so  many  dynasties,  and 
which,  however  it  may  terminate,  has  already  occasioned  more 
misery  in  England  than  she  ever  before  experienced.  If  there 
had  been  no  Press  in  England  at  the  commencement  of  the 
French  revolution,  the  people  of  England  would  have  formed 
their  judgment  upon  what  they  san/,  and  what  they  felt ;  or, 
if  men  had  been,  on  bolh  sides  of  the  question,  free  to  publish 
their  thoughts,  the  people,  hearing  alt  that  could  be  said /or,  as 
well  as  against,  the  cause  of  France,  would  have  come  to  a  de- 
cision warranted  by  truth  and  reason.  But  while  those  who 
wrote  against  the  republicans  of  France,  and  urged  the  nation 
en  to  a  war  against  them,  were  at  perfect  liberty  to  make  use  of 
what  statements  or  arguments  they  chose  for  that  purpose,  those 
who  wrote  on  the  other  side  were  compelled  to  smother  the 
best  part  of  what  they  might  have  urged,  that  is  to  say,  they 
could  not  write  with  effect ;  or,  if  they  did,  they  exposed  them- 
selves to  ruin,  and,  perhaps,  to  premature  death ;  for 
there  are  not  many  bodies  able  to  endure  sentences  of  long 
imprisonment,  without  receiving  injuries  that  are  seldom  over- 
come. Mi.  Gilbert  Wakefield  lived  out  his  two  years  in  Dor- 
chester jail  ;  but  he  did  not  for  many  months  survive  the  effects 
of  his  imprisonment,  leaving  a  wife  and  family  to  starve,  had  not 
his  virtues  bequeathed  them  friends.  Mr.  Wakefield's  crime 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  43 

was  the  answering  the  triumphant  answering  of  a  Bisliop,  who 
had  wrilten  against  the  republicans  of  France,  and  the  tendency 
of  whose  publication  was  to  encourage  the  people  of  England  to 
go  on  with  the  war  then  begun.  After  the  example  made  of 
Mr.  Wakefield,  after  such  a  rt-ply  to  his  pamphlet,  the  war 
would,  of  course,  meet  with  few  literary  opponents,  or,  if  any, 
so  shy  and  so  timid  as  to  produce  little  or  no  effect  ;  while,  on 
the  other  side,  the  advocates  of  the  war,  wifh  nothing  to  fear, 
and  every  thing  to  hope  in  the  way  of  personal  advantage,  could 
not  fail  to  succeed  in  persuading  the  people,  that  to  push  on  the 
war  was  just  and  necessary.  The  delusion  was  kept  up  through 
the  same  means.  In  spite  of  discomfiture  and  disgrace  ;  in 
spite  of  facts  that  might  have  been  supposed  almost  suffi- 
cient to  enlighten  a  born  idiot,  they  were  made  to  hope  on 
from  campaign  to  campaign  ;  and,  though  they  saw  league  after 
league  dissolved,  they  were  still  induced  to  give  their  approba- 
tion to  new  leagues.  Without  a  press,  such  as  I  have  described, 
this  would  have  been  impossible.  A  total  destruction  ol  the 
press,  or  the  establishment  of  a  licenser,  would  have  prevent- 
ed the  possibility  of  such  delusion  ;  because,  then,  the  people 
would  have  judged  from  what  they  sow  and  what  \\ieyftlt ;  they 
would  have  judged  from  the  actual  events  of  the  war,  and  from 
the  effects  which  the  war,  as  it  proceeded,  produced  upon 
themselves.  But  by  the  means  of  the  press,  such  as  I  have 
described  it,  by  the  means  of  a  succession  of  falsehoods,  coming 
upon  the  h^els  of  one  another  so  quick  as  to  leave  little  time 
for  reflection,  the  people  were  hurried  on  from  one  stage  to 
another  of  the  war,  till,  at  last,  they  saw  no  way  of  retreating ; 
and  thousands,  when  they  saw,  in  the  end,  the  fatal  consequen- 
ces of  the  measures  they  had  been  so  zealous  in  supporting, 
continued,  rather  than  acknowledge  themselves  dupes,  the  par- 
tisans of  those  by  whom  they  had  been  deceived  ;  and  so  they 
continue  to  this  day. 

But,  sir,  amongst  all  the  instances  in  which  this  prostituted 
press  has  abused  the  public  ear,  I  know  of  no  one  where  it 
has  worked  with  more  zeal,  or  more  apparent  effect,  than  with 
regard  to  the  present  dispute  with  the  American  Stales.  The 
grounds  of  complaint  on  the  part  of  America  have  been  sedu- 
lously kept  out  of  sight  ;  her  remonstrances,  against  what  no 
one  can  deny  to  be  a  violation  of  her  rights,  have  been  con- 
stantly represented  as  de:nands  made  upon  us  to  give  up  some 
of  our  rights  ;  her  people  have  been  represented  as  being  on 
our  side,  and  against  their  government  ;  and,  last  of  all,  when 
this  prostituted  press  can  no  longer  disguise  the  fact  that  the 
Americans  are  preparing  for  war  against  us,  it  represents  the 
American  legislature  as  well  as  the  President  as  acting  under 
the  influence  of  France  ;  as  being  instruments  in  the  hands  of 


44  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

Buonaparte.  And  by  these  means  it  has  drawn  the  public 
along,  from  stage  to  stage,  in  an  approbation  of  the  measures, 
which  have  now  brought  us  to  the  eve  of  a  new  war,  in  addition 
to  that  which  we  find  sufficiently  burdensome  and  calamitous, 
and  to  which  there  is  no  man  who  pretends  to  see  the  prospect 
of  a  termination. 

I  have  before  taken  the  liberty  to  address  your  Royal  High- 
ness upon  this  subject ;  and  if  I  now  repeat,  in  part,  what 
I  have  already  said,  my  excuse  must  be,  that  the  state  of 
things  is  now  more  likely,  in  my  opinion,  to  excite  attention 
to  my  observations.  Under  this  persuasion,  and  in  the  hope 
of  being  yet  able  to  contribute  something  towards  the  preven- 
tion of  a  war  with  the  American  States,  I  shall  here  again  take 
a  view  of  the  whole  of  the  question,  and  shall  then  offer  to  your 
Royal  Highness  such  observations  upon  the  subject  as  appear 
to  me  not  to  be  unworthy  of  your  attention. 

There  are  two  great  points  upon  which  we  are  at  issue 
with  America :  The  Orders  in  Council,  and  the  Impressment 
of  American  Seamen.  The  dispute  with  that  country  has  late- 
ly turned  chiefly  upon  the  former  ;  but  it  should  be  made  known 
to  your  Royal  Highness,  that  the  latter,  as  I  once  before  had 
the  honour  to  observe  to  you,  is  the  grievance  that  clings  most 
closely  to  the  hearts  of  the  people,  so  many  of  whom  have  to 
weep  the  loss  of  a  husband,  a  brother,  or  a  son,  of  whom  they 
have  been  bereft  by  our  impressments. 

In  proceeding  to  discuss  the  first  of  these  points,  I  will  first 
state  to  your  Royal  Highness  how  the  Americans  are  affected 
by  our  Orders  in  Council.  An  American  ship,  though  naviga- 
ted by  American  citizens,  and  laden  with  Indian  corn,  or  any 
other  produce  of  America,  bound  to  any  part  of  France,  or  her 
dominions,  is,  if  she  chance  to  be  seen  by  one  of  our  ships  of 
war  or  privateers,  brought  into  any  one  of  our  ports,  and  there 
she  is  condemned,  ship  and  cargo,  and  the  master  and  seamen 
are  sent  adrift,  to  get  back  to  America  as  they  can,  or  to  starve 
in  our  streets.  The  same  takes  place  with  regard  to  an  Ame- 
rican vessel  bound  from  France,  or  her  dominions,  to  America. 
These  captures  take  place  on  any  part  of  the  ocean,  and  they 
have  often  taken  place  at  the  very  mouth  of  the  American  ports 
and  rivers ;  and,  as  great  part  of  the  crews  of  vessels  so  captur- 
ed are  taken  out  by  the  captors  to  prevent  a  rescue,  the  sailors 
so  taken  out  are  frequently  kept  at  sea  for  a  long  while,  and,  in 
many  cases,  they  have  lost  their  lives  during  such,  their  deten- 
tion, which  to  them  must  necessarily  be,  in  all  cases,  a  most 
irksome  and  horrible  captivity. 

That  this  is  a  great  injury  to  America  nobody  can  deny,  and, 
therefore,  the  next  point  to  consider  is,  whether  we  have  any 
right  to  inflict  it  upon  her ;  whether  we  have  a  right  thus  to 


Letters  of  William  Cobbell,  Esq.  4 i 

aeize  the  property  of  her  merchants,  and  to  expose  to  hardship, 
peril,  and  death,  the  persons  of  her  sailors.  And  here,  sir, 
I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying,  that  our  conduct  is  wholly  un- 
justifiable, according  to  all  the  hitherto  known  and  settled  rules 
of  the  neutral  law  of  nations,  even  as  recognised  by  ourselves. 
For  never  until  since  the  year  1806,  that  is  to  say,  till  since 
the  issuing  of  the  Orders  in  Council,  did  England  pretend  to 
have  a  right  to  make  prize  of  a  neutral  ship,  even  carrying 
enemy's  goods  to  or  from  an  enemy's  port,  contenting  herself 
with  seizing  the  cargo  and  suffering  the  ship  to  go  free.  And, 
as  to  the  seizure  of  the  goods  of  a  neutral,  on  board  a  neutral 
ship,  the  very  attempt  to  set  up  the  pretension  of  a  right  to  do 
that  would  have  marked  ouMhe  author  as  a  madman.  Indeed, 
such  a  pretension  puts  an  end  to  all  idea  of  neutrality ;  it  at 
once  involves  every  maritime  nation  in  every  war  that  shall  exist 
between  any  other  maritime  nations ;  and  is,  therefore,  a  pre- 
tension so  tyrannical  in  its  principle,  and  so  desolating  in  its 
consequences,  as  to  be  abhorred  by  all  but  those  who  delight  in, 
the  troubles  and  miseries  of  mankind,  and  the  waste  of  human 
Jife. 

Conscious  that  general  usage  and  reason  are  against  us,  we 
ground  our  justification  upon  a  rule  of  war,  which  gays  that  one 
belligerent  may  retaliate  upon  another.  It  is  not,  for  instance, 
held  to  be  right,  to  kill  prisoners  made  in  war ;  but,  if  our  ene- 
my kill  the  prisoners  he  takes  from  us,  we  may,  according  to 
this  rule,  kill  the  prisoners  we  take  from  him ;  though,  even  in 
that  case,  not  exceeding  the  number  that  he  has  killed  belong- 
ing to  us.  No  rule  of  retaliation  could  apply  to  the  case  before 
us.  We  were  not  at  war  with  America.  She  had  seized  no 
ships  belonging  to  England.  She  had  not  been  guilty,  and  she 
was  not  charged  with  being  guilty,  of  any  breach  of  the  laws  of 
neutrality.  But,  if  she  had  been  guilty  of  no  offence,  France 
had,  and  the  retaliation  was  to  fall  upon  America. 

This  leads  me  to  solicit  the  patient  attention  of  your  Royal 
Highness  to  the  History  of  the  Orders  in  Council,  which  Or- 
ders we  have  always  called  retaliatory  measures.  The  Empe- 
ror Napoleon  issued  two  Decrees,  the  first  from  Berlin,  and 
the  second  from  Milan.  These  Decrees  were  levelled  against 
the  trade  carried  on  between  neutrals  and  England,  or,  rather, 
between  America  and  England,  America  being,  in  fact,  the 
only  neutral  then  left.  The  Decrees  were  a  gross  violation 
of  the  neutral  rights  of  America.  Napoleon  had  not,  indeed, 
the  power  of  enforcing  them  ;  but  he  would  have  done  it  if  he 
could  ;  and  the  very  attempt,  the  very  existence  of  the  De- 
crees, was  a  violation  of  the  heretofore  acknowledged  rights  of 
neutrals.  Such  was  the  conduct  of  Napoleon.  We  issued 
what  we  called  Orders  in  Council,  the  nature  and  effect  of 


48  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

vhich  I  have  above  described.  We  have  contended,  that  these 
Orders  were  in  the  way  of  retaliation  lor  the  French  Decrees. 
This  the  Americans  have  always  treated  as  an  outrage  on  evny 
principle  of  justice.  They  have,  as  well  they  might,  denied 
that  we  have  a  right  to  act  with  injustice  towards  them,  upon 
the  pretence,  true  or  fals^e,  that  another  power  has  acted  with 
injustice  towards  them.  They  have  scoffed  at  such  a  princi- 
ple of  action;  but  they  have,  at  the  same  time,  observed,  that, 
even  if  this  monstrous  principle  were  admitted,  we  should  find 
in  it  no  justification  of  our  Orders,  the  commencement  of 
which  they  trace  to  a  date  prior  to  that  of  the  first  of  A'opo- 
leon's  Decrees. 

The  first  of  this  series  of  measures,  of  which  America 
complains,  was  adopted  by  our  government,  and  that,  too, 
under  the  administration  of  those  who  are  now  OUT.  It  was 
a  blockade  of  the  entrances  of  the  Ews,  the  Weser,  the  Elbe, 
and  the  Trave,  in  consequence  oi  Ike  Ifinir  of  Prussia  having 
taken  possession  of  various  parts  of  the  Electorate  of  Hanover  t 
and  having,  as  was  asserted  in  Mr.  Fox's  letter,  done  other 
things  injurious  to  English  commerce.  Thus  this  dispute  with 
America  grew,  in  part  at  least,  out  of  the  connexion  with 
Hanover.  This  regulation,  against  which  the  Americans  im- 
mediately protested  as  being  a  gross  violation  of  their  neutral 
rights,  was  dated  on  the  8th  of  April,  1H06.  Before  the  month 
of  November  in  that  year.  Napoleon  had  put  an  end  to  all  dis- 
putes between  us  and  the  king  of  Prussia,  by  attacking,  defeat- 
ing, and  overthrowing  the  king  of  Prussia,  and  taking  posses- 
sion of  Prussia  itself  as  well  as  Hanover.  Being  at  Berlin,  he, 
on  the  21st  of  November,  1806,  issued  that  Decree  before 
spoken  of,  called  the  Berlin  Decree,  This  measure  he  called 
a  measure  of  retaliation  for  our  regulations  against  neutrals. 
We  followed  him  with  more  restrictions  upon  neutrals,  or,  rather, 
upon  America,  under  the  form  of  Orders  in  Council,  and  these 
we  declared  to  be  measures  of  retaliation  for  the  Berlin  Decree. 
Then  came  Napoleon  with  his  Decree  from  Milan,  as  a  retali- 
ation for  these  Orders.  And  we  have  followed  him  with  Or- 
der upon  Order  since  that  time,  calling  them  measures  of  ;  da- 
liation. 

America  complained  of  both  the  belligerents,  and  was  told 
by  each  that  he  had  been  compelled  to  deviate  from  the  law  of 
nations  in  his  own  defence,  and  that  he  only  wished  to  reduce 
his  adversary  to  the  necessity  of  returning  to  an  observance  of 
the  rules  of  that  law.  We,  more  especially,  expressed  our  sor- 
row at  being  obliged  to  give  annoyance  to  neutral  commerce  ; 
and  we  said,  we  were  so  anxious  to  see  this  obligation  at  an  end, 
that  we  would  waive  the  point  of  .priority  of  violation,  and  would 
repeal  our  Orders,  step  by  step)  with  the  repeal  of  the  French  De- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  4T 

crees;  that  is  to  say,  that  whenever  Napoleon  was  ready  to 
begin  the  work  of  repealing,  we  would  begin  too,  and  keep 
pace  with  him,  uutil  the  whole  mass  of  obnoxious  Decrees  and 
Orders  were  removed. 

As  neither  did  begin,  however,  America  fell  upon  a  mode  of 
inducing  one  or  the  other,  or  both,  to  do  it  by  a  temptation  to 
their  interests.  She  passed  an  act,  in  May.  1810,  which  pro- 
\ided  that,  if  neither  ot  the  belligerents  had  repealed  before 
the  1st  of  .November,  in  that  year,  the  ships  and  goods  of  both 
should  be  excluded  from  her  ports  and  harbours  ;  that  if  both 
repealed,  the  ships  and  goods  of  both  should  continue  to  be 
admitted  ;  that  it  one  repealed,  and  the  other  did  not,  the  ships 
and  goods  of  the  non-repealing  nation  should  be  excluded. 

Napoleon,  in  I  he  month  ol  July,  1810,  signified  to  the  Ame- 
rican minister  at  Paris,  that  his  Decrees  mere  repealed,  and 
that  the  repeal  would  be  acted  upon  on  the  appointed  1st  of 
November.  Whereupon  the  President,  as  the  act  required, 
declared  the  fact  of  the  repeal,  and  declared,  at  the  same  time, 
that  unless  England  had  repealed  her  Orders  before  the  1st  of 
February,  1811,  her  ships  and  goods  would  from  that  day  be 
excluded.  England  did  not  repeal,  and  her  ships  and  good* 
have  been  excluded  accordingly,  to  the  woful  experience  of 
our  wool-growers  and  marmCaciurers,  and  to  the  infinite  satisfac- 
tion, doubiless,  of  the  emperor  of  France. 

The  reasons  we  have  given  for  not  repealing,  are,  first,  that 
Napoleon  has  not  repealed  ;  and,  second,  that  if  he  had,  he 
has  erected  the  continental  system  in  the  stead  of  his  Decrees. 
As  to  the  first  of  these  reason*,-  it  is  telling  the  American  go- 
vernment that  it  utters  wilful  falsehoods,  or  that  it  is  so  blind 
and  foolish  as  not  to  be  able  to  ascertain  a  fact  of  such  import- 
ance to  the  interests  of  the  nation.  And,  as  to  the  latter  rea- 
son, it  is,  intact,  calling  upon  America  to  compel  Napoleon  to 
alter  his  internal  laws  in  favour  of  English  go<: '.Is  ;  or,  it  is  tell- 
ing her,  that  we  will  continue  to  punish  her  if  she  does  not  do 
that,  or  join  us  in  the  war.  America  is  satisfied  that  Napoleon 
has  repealed  his  decrees ;  she  has  declared  it  through  her  mi- 
nister here,  and  through  her  President  in  his  proclamations  and 
his  messages  to  the  Congress ;  and  still  we  deny  the  fact.  This 
is  a  ground  of  action  that  no  nation  will  endure,  unless  it  be 
wholly  destitute  of  spirit,  or  of  the  means  of  obtaining  redress 
or  revenge 

The  matter  is  now  taken  np  by  the  Congress,  to  whose  pro- 
ceedings therein  1  will  speak,  when  I  have  submitted  to  your 
Royal  Highness  a  statement  of  the  nature  of  the  other  great 
point  in  dispute  ;  namely,  the  impressment  of  seamen  out  of 
American  ships  by  our  ships  of  war. 

Our  ships  of  war,  when  they  meet  an  American  vessel  at  sea, 


48  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

board  her,  and  take  out  of  her,  by  force,  any  seamen  whom  our 
officers  assert  to  be  British  subjects.  There  is  no  rule  by 
which  they  are  bound.  They  act  at  discretion ;  and  the  con- 
sequence is,  that  great  numbers  of  native  Americans  have  been, 
thus  impressed,  and  great  numbers  of  them  are  now  in  our 
navy.  The  total  number  so  held  at  any  one  time  cannot,  per- 
haps, be  ascertained  ;  but,  from  a  statement  published  in  Ame- 
rica, it  appears,  that  Mr.  Lyrnan,  the  late  Consul  here,  stated 
the  number,  about  two  years  ago,  at  fourteen  thousand.  That 
many  of  these  men  have  died  on  board  of  our  ships,  that  many 
have  been  wounded,  that  many  have  been  killed  in  action,  and 
that  many  have  been  worn  out  in  the  service,  there  can  be  no 
doubt.  Some  obtain  their  release  through  the  application  of  the 
American  consul  here,  and  of  these  the  sufferings  have,  in 
many  instances,  been  very  great.  There  have  been  instances 
where  men  have  thus  got  free  after  having  been  flogged  through 
the  fleet  for  desertion. 

But  it  has  been  asked,  whether  we  are  not  to  take  our  sai- 
lors where  we  find  them.  To  which  America  answers,  yes, 
but  take  only  your  own ;  "  take,"  said  Mr.  Lyman,  "  your 
whole  pound  of  flesh,  but  take  not  a  drop  of  blood.'*  She  says, 
that  she  wishes  not  to  have  in  her  ships  any  British  sailors  ;  and 
she  is  willing  to  give  them  up,  wherever  the  fact  of  their  being 
British  sailors  can  be  proved.  Let  them,  she  says,  be  brought 
before  any  magistrate,  or  any  public  civil  authority,  in  any  of 
your  own  ports,  at  home  or  abroad,  and  she  is  willing  to  abide 
by  the  decision.  But  let  not  men  be  seized  in  her  ships  upon 
the  high  sea?,  (and  sometimes  at  the  mouth  of  her  own  rivers,) 
where  there  is  nobody  to  judge  between  the  parties,  and  where 
the  British  officer  going  on  board  is  at  once  accuser,  witness, 
judge,  and  captor.  Let  not  your  officer,  who  cannot  know  the 
men,  except  by  mere  accident,  be  taken  to  be  a  better  judge 
of  the  fact  than  the  commander  of  the  ship  in  which  they  sail. 
Let  it  not  be  admitted,  that  he  is  never  to  be  believed,  and  that 
even  the  protections  given  by  the  American  authorities  are  to 
be  received  as  falsehoods,  and  disregarded  accordingly. 

We  have  hitherto  refused  to  alter  our  practice.  The  griev- 
ance has  been  growing  greater  and  greater,  as  it  necessarily 
must  with  the  continuance  of  the  war,  until,  at  last,  the  number 
of  persons  impressed,  the  number  of  sufferers,  and  the  corres- 
ponding number  of  complaining  parents,  wives,  and  children, 
in  America,  are  become  so  great,  that  the  whole  country  cries 
cut  War!  War!  or  an  end  to  impressment! 

I  beg  your  Royal  Highness  to  consider  what  must  be  the 
feelings  of  a  people  at  the  existence  of  a  grievance  like  this; 
and,  if  you  do  seriously  consider  it,  I  am  sure  you  will  see 
cause  to  despise  those  parasites  of  the  press  in  England,  who 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq,  49 

are  using;  their  utmost  endeavours  to  persuade  the  public,  that 
the  American  Congress  are,  in  their  resentful  language  against 
England,  "  stimulated  by  the  intrigues  of  Buonaparte."  As 
if  the  intrigues  of  Buonaparle  were  necessary  to  make  an  assem- 
bly of  real  representatives  of  the  American  people  feel  for  the 
ruin  of  so  many  hundreds  of  their  merchants,  and  for  the  great- 
er sufferings  of  so  many  thousands  of  their  seamen  and  of  the 
relations  of  those  seamen  !  As  if  the  intrigues  of  Buonaparte 
were  necessary  to  make  such  an  assembly  teel  at  seeing  their 
country,  whose  independence  was  purchased  with  the  blood  of 
their  fathers,  treated,  at  sea,  as  if  il  were  still  no  more  than  a  co- 
lony !  As  if  to  feel  acutely,  and  to  express  themselves  strongly 
upon  such  an  occasion,  it  were  necessary  for  them  to  be  insti- 
gated by  the  intrigues  of  a  foreign  power! 

Having  now,  wilh  as  much  clearness  a*  I  have  been  able  to 
combine  with  brevity,  submitted  to  your  Royal  Highness  the 
nature  and  extent  of  the  complaints  which  America  prefers 
against  England,  I  next  proceed  to  state  to  you  what  has  been 
done  by  (he  Congress,  in  the  way  of  -obtaining  redress  for  those 
grievances  ;  after  which  will  naturally  come  such  observations 
as  I  think  not  unworthy  of  your  serious  attention,  relative  to  the 
consequences  of  a  war  with  a  country  which,  until  this  moment, 
the  prostituted  press  of  this  country  has  studiously  treated  with 
eontempt. 

It  is  necessary  to  begin  here  by  observing  on  the  means 
which  this  press  has,  on  this  subject,  made  use  of  to  deceive  the 
public.  The  writers  to  whose  labours  I  allude,  were  employ- 
ed during  the  last  spring  and  summer  in  representing  Mr  .Ma- 
dison as  a  falling  character  :  they  told  us  that  Mr.  Smith's 
disclosures  had  ruined  the  reputation  of  the  former  ;  they  ex- 
pressed their  opinion  that  he  would  never  more  show  his  face 
in  the  Congress  ;  and  the  people  of  America  they  represented 
as  being  decidedly  against  a  war  with  England.  So  that  the 
public  here  were  led  to  believe,  that,  let  our  ministers  do  what 
they  might  with  regard  to  America,  there  was  no  danger  to  be 
apprehended.  I  took  the  liberty,  many  months  ago,  to  endea- 
vour to  guard  your  Royal  Highness  against  the  adoplion  of 
opinions  founded  upon  such  statements  ;  and  I  then  expressed 
to  you  rny  firm  conviction,  that  an  immediate  change  of  con- 
duct on  our  part,  towards  America,  was  necessary  to  prevent 
a  war  with  that  country.  When  the  President's  speech  reached 
us,  brealhing  a  spirit  of  resentment,  and  suggesting  the  propri- 
ety of  arming,  these  yelpers  of  the  venal  press,  as  if  all  set  on 
by  one  and  the  same  halloo,  and  as  if  forgetting  their  predic- 
tions about  his  fall,  flew  at  him  in  a  strain  of  abuse  such  as  I 
have  seldom  witnessed,  except  when  i  m>  pelf  have  had  the  ho- 
to  be  thought  by  their  setters  on  an  object  worthy  of  their 


;>0  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

mercenary  malice.  They  likened  the  style  of  his  speech  to 
that  of  the  Wabash  and  Shawanese  Savages;  they  called  him 
a  tool  of  Buonaparte  ;  they  represented  him  as  a  mean,  low- 
minded,,  ignorant  man  ;  and  I  have  never  heard  that  any  one 
of  them  has  been  called  to  account  for  this  conduct.  They 
Boon  found,  however,  what  every  man  of  sense  anticipated, 
that  the  sentiments  of  the  President's  speech  were  but  a  faint 
sketch  of  the  picture  to  be  finished  by  the  Congress,  who, 
therefore,  next  became  an  object  of  attack.  But,  by 
degrees,  as  the  accounts  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Con- 
gress have  reached  us,  these  deceivers  of  the  English  people 
have  grown  more  measured  in  their  abuse.  At  the  arrival  of 
every  new  menace  from  the  city  of  Washington,  they  have,  as 
is  in  the  nature  of  the  true-bred  bully,  become  more  and  more 
gentle  ;  till,  at  last,  they  have  softened  down  into  a  tone  of  ci- 
vility. They  do  not  "  now  make  a  mockery'*  of  war  with 
America ;  they  even  hope  that  it  may  be  prevented  ;  ar»d  they 
"  trust  empty  punctilio  will  not  stand  in  the  way  of  reconcili- 
ation ;"  that  very  reconciliation  which  they  had  done  all  in 
their  power  to  prevent. 

But,  still  sticking  to  their  character  of  deceivers,  they  are 
now  employed  in  garbling  the  debates  in  the  Congress.  They 
are  employed  in  suppressing  the  sentiments  of  those  members 
who  are  advocates  for  a  resistance  of  England,  and  in  puffing 
forth  the  speeches  of  those  who  are  on  the  opposite  side.  The 
speech  of  one  gentleman  in  particular,  Mr.  Randolph,  they 
praise  beyond  bounds,  for  which,  however,  they  have  one 
reason,  which  they  do  not  avow;  and,  which,  as  it  is  somewhat 
curious,  I  will,  even  at  the  expense  of  a  digression;  make  a  sub- 
ject of  remark. 

In  reading  the  speech  of  this  gentleman,  as  copied  into  some 
of  our  newspapers,  I  could  not  help  wondering  that  a  thing  so 
incoherent  and  so  weak  should  have  called  forth  the  praises 
even  of  these  prints.  I  wondered  that  even  they  should  de- 
cribe  such  at  once  wild  and  vapid  matter  as  "  full  of  acuteness 
and  sarcasm."  I  had,  indeed,  frequently  heard  them  bestow 
encomiums  on  the  speeches  of  Lord  Liverpool  and  Mr.  Perce- 
val ;  but  any  thing  so  inappropriate  as  this  I  had  never  heard 
them  hazard  before.  When,  however,  I  came  to  see  the  speech 
itself,  in  the  American  newspapers,  and  found  that  1  myself 
had  been  an  object  of  Mr.  Randolph's  attack,  the  wonder  ceased, 
It  was  no  longer  a  matter  of  surprise,  that  the  mercenary  tribe 
had  discovered  in  the  speech  of  Mr.  .Randolph  every  thing 
characteristic  of  acuteness,  and  profundity,  and  public  spirit. 
Bat,  really,  it  was  dealing  very  unfairly  with  their  readers  not 
to  treat  them  to  a  participation  in  the  enjoyment  of  these  sarcas- 
tic passages,  especially  when  they  would  not  thereby  have  di- 
minished their  own  ;  and  it  is  not  a  little  surprising,  that  they 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  51 

should,  in  copying  the  speech  of  their  champion,  have  taken 
the  pains  to  exclude  precisely  these  passages.  Since,  however, 
they  have  done  it,  I  will  fill  up  the  gap. 

Mr.  RANDOLPH  had,  it  seems,  been  accused  of  not  being  a 
republican,  and  of  being  devoted  to  England  ;  in  the  way  of 
answer  to  which  he  makes  the  following  personal  remarks  and 
allusions.  "  I  do  not  like  this  republicanism  which  is  support- 
by  Mr.  Adams  on  this  side  the  Atlantic,  and  by  Cobbet  on 
the  other,  who,  if  he  could  break  jail,  would  assist  in  revolu- 
tionizing New-England.  Republicanism  of  John  Adams,  and 
William  Cobbett,  par  nobilefratrum,  united  now  as  in  1798. 
Formerly,  Mr.  Adams  and  Porcupine  would  have  called  me  a 
Frenchman;  now,  if  worthy  of  notice,  both  would  call  mean 

Englishman From  whom,"  says  he,  in  another  part  of 

his  speech,  "  come  these  charges?  From  men  escaping  from 
jails  in  Europe,  and  here  teaching  our  fathers  and  sons  their 
political  duties."  Now,  in  the  first  place,  1  have  great  satisfac- 
tion in  learning  from  such  unquestionable  authority  that  I  agree 
in  political  opinions  with  Mr.  Adams.  Mr.  Adams  was  one  of 
those  who,  at  the  earliest  date,  made  a  conspicuous  figure  in 
the  cause  of  no  taxation  without  representation  ;  he  was  Ame- 
rican minister  at  the  Hague,  afterwards  at  Paris,  afterwards  in 
England  ;  he  was  Vice  President  of  the  United  States  all  the 
time  that  General  Washington  was  President ;  he  was  after- 
wards himself  President  of  the  United  States  :  and  having  been, 
at  the  next  election,  supplanted  by  Mr,  Jefferson,  he  has,  since, 
his  retirement,  had  the  rare  virtue  to  acknowledge,  upon  further 
reflection,  that  the  system  of  his  successor  was  the  most  ad- 
vantageous to  his  country  ;  and,  upon  that  ground,  to  give  that 
system  all  the  support  in  his  power.  He  lives  now  in  the 
simplest  style,  at  the  age  of  about  seventy-five,  in  his  native 
state  of  Massachusetts,  beloved  and  venerated  by  all  around 
him,  and  without  having,  or  being  suspected  of  having,  added 
to  his  own  private  means  a  single  dollar  of  the  public  money. 
Such  is  the  man  whose  opinions  I  am  now  charged  with  holding, 
and  in  company  with  whom  I  atn  said  to  have  changed  my  for- 
mer opinions  as  to  American  politics ;  upon  which  I  can  only 
say  that  no  effort  of  mine  shall  be  wanting  to  render  myself 
worthy  of  such  an  honour.  As  to  what  Mr.  Randolph  says 
about  my  being  in  jail,  that  is  a  mode  of  answering  which  he 
must  have  learnt  from  our  mercenary  prints.  That  is  the  way 
that  they  answer  my  arguments.  But  this  gentleman's  general 
accusation  against  those  who  have  been  in  jails  in  Europe  ;  his 
objection  to  their  teaching  politics  to  the  people  of  America; 
these  are  worthy  of  some  attention.  For  the  present,  laying 
my  own  case  out  of  the  question,  I  would,  if  I  were  within  his 
hearing,  ask  this  gentleman  how  long  it  is  since  the  bare  cir- 


32  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq* 

eumstance  of  having  been  imprisoned  in  a  jail  has  been  looked 
upon  as  sufficient  to  disqualify  a  man  lor  leaching  political  du- 
ties- It  seems  lo  me,  on  the  contrary ,  that  the  cncumsiauce 
ought,  if  such  man  has  guttered  on  account  of  his  politics,  to  be 
considered  as  one  qualification  at  least,  seeing  that  it  must  ne- 
cessarily have  impressed  strongly  upon  his  mind  the  nature  *nd 
effect  ot  the  political  institution  under  which  he  has  suffered. 
But,  surely,  Mr  Randolph  cannot  have  been  serious  ;  tor  he 
boasts  of  being  descended  from  the  country  ui  Hump  den  and 
Sidney,  and  of  having  imbibed  his  political  principles  trom  them. 
Indeed  !  Why  then  he  should  have  recoltected,  that  the  for- 
mer, if  he  had  not,  in  a  glorious  fight  tor  the  liberties  of  Eng- 
land, died  in  the  field,  would  ha\e  perished  on  the  scatfbld  ;  and, 
that  the  latter,  after  having,  for  a  long  while,  inh-ab  led  a  jail, 
did  actually  lose  his  life  under  the  hands  of  the  executioner. 
And  if  the  brave  Sidney,  who  was  tound  guilty  by  a  parked 
jury,  and  who,  when  condemned  by  a  corrupt  judge,  stretched 
out  his  arm  to  him  and  bade  him  feel  his  pulse  to  see  it  he 
trembled  ;  if  this  undaunted  advocate  of  freedom  had  escaped 
before  the  day  of  execution,  and  arrived  in  America,  would  Mr. 
Randolph,  had  he  been  then  living,  have  objected  to  him  as  a 
teacher  of  political  duties  merely  on  the  ground  of  his  having 
escaped  from  a  jail?  And  Prynn,  who  was  persecuted  by  the 
then  attorney  general  of  England,  and  who,  by  the  tyrannical 
judges  of  that  day,  those  base  instruments  of  a  corrupted  court; 
if  he,  who  was  imprisoned,  and  fined,  and  pilloried,  and  mutilated, 
almost  beyond  mortal  endurance,  and  who,  after  all,  lived  to 
bring  one  of  his  judges  to  the  block;  if  Prynii,  who  was  thus 
punished  on  a  charge  of  seditious  libel,  had  "  broke  jail,"  this 
very  jail  of  Newgate,  where  be  was  at  first  confined  ;  if  he  had 
"  broke  jail,"  and  gone  to  America,  would  Mr.  Randolph's 
forefathers,  of  whom  he  boasts,  have  objected  to  such  a  teach- 
er of  political  duties?  Why,  though,  perhaps^  Mr.  Randolph 
does  not  know  if,  William  Penn  was  prosecuted  for  seditious 
libel,  and  was  confined  in  this  very  jnil  oj '  j\c/og(tte  too,  though 
his  time  here  was  rendered  short  by  a  jury  who  had  the  sense 
to  know  their  duty,  and  the  courage  to  resist  the  browbeating  of 
a  corrupt  political  judge;  and  was  William  Penn  thought  an 
unfit  teacher  of  political  duties?  1  am  pleading  here,  not  my 
own  cause,  but  that  of  many  others,  who  are  now  in  America, 
and  who  have  been  in  jails  in  Europe.  This,  however,  is  unne- 
cessary ;  for  it  is  a  fact,  and  a  fact,  too,  which  )our  Royal 
Highness  should  know,  that  these  gentlemen  have  been  receiv- 
ed there,  not  as  Mr.  Randolph  seems  to  have  wished,  but 
with  kindness,  respect,  and  honour.  Mr.  Emmet  and  Mr. 
Sampson  are  amongst  the  first  advocates  at  the  bar  in  New- 
York,  and  their  associate,  Dr.  Af'Aeiw,  ia  at  the  head,  or 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  -  53 

nearly  so,  of  the  physicians.  The  instance  of  Mr.  Duane  ig 
worthy  of  particular  nolice.  He  was  a  printer  at  Calcutta, 
where  his  types  and  property  were  destroyed,  himself  thrown 
into  a  guard  house,  and  soon  afterwards  shipped  off  to  Europe. 
He  found  his  way  to  America,  and  to  his  pen  England  owes  no 
inconsiderable  portion  of  the  hostility  that  has  since  existed 
against  her  in  that  country.  I  can  remember  the  tune  when  he, 
and  he  alone,  as  far  as  the  power  of  the  press  went,  kept  alive  the 
opposition  to  the  English  interest.  All  the  other  writers  seemed 
to  be  weary  of  the  strife  ;  but  his  inex<mgnishable  remembrance 
of  the  past  sustained  him  under  all  difficulties,  and  he  finally  saw 
that  cause  triumph,  of  which,  at  one  time,  every  body  else 
seemed  to  despair.  He,  above  ail  others,  has  been  a  teacher 
of  "political  duties,"  as  Mr.  Randolph  calls,  them;  and,  as» 
gurediy.  it  success  be  a  proof  of  merit,  few  men  ever  had  so 
much.  I;  Mr-  Finnerty  were  to  exchange  a  solitary  c«-ll  in 
Lincoln  jail,  to  uhich  he  has  been  consigned,  at  a  distance  from 
his  friends,  and  from  his  means  of  obtaining  a  livelihood  ;  if  he 
were  to  change  that  situation  for  the  tree  air  of  America,  leaving 
his  present  dreary  abode  to  the  occupancy  of  the  next  man,  if 
another  such  man  should  be  found,  to  comment  on  the  charac- 
ter of  Castlereagh  ;  it  Mr.  Finnerty  were  to  make  this  exchange, 
does  Mr.  Randolph  imagine,  that  the  people  of  America  would 
regard  him,  who  has  given  such  proofs  of  his  talents  and  inte- 
grity, as  a  very  unfit  teacher  of  political  duties?  And  now,  as 
to  myself,  it  appears  to  me,  that  Mr.  Randolph  would  have 
better  consulted  the  dignity  of  his  situation  as  a  legislator,  if  he 
had  answered  my  arguments  rather  than  made  an  allusion  to 
the  situation  in  which  he  knew  me  to  be.  I  had  not  given  him 
any  offence  ;  I  had  not  even  named  him  in  any  of  my  articles  on 
American  affairs.  I  had  used  the  best  of  my  humble  endea- 
vours to  prevent  the  necessity  of,  and  to  remove  all  pretence 
for  those  warlike  measures,  of  which  he  appears  to  have  been 
so  determined  an  opponent  ;  and,  surely,  if  I  did  happen  to  dif- 
fer from  him  in  opinion,  the  circumstance  of  my  being  in  a  jail 
was  not  to  deprive  me  of  ail  right  to  exercise  aiy  judgment,  and 
to  put  the  result  upon  paper.  Such  a  deprivation  made  no 
part  of  my  sentence.  Judges  Grose  and  Ellenborough,  and 
Bailey  and  Le  Blanc  did,  indeed,  sentence  me  to  be  imprisoned 
{or  two  years  in  Newgate,  where  Prynn  had  been  before  me; 
but  they  did  not  sentence  tne  to  be  blindfolded  and  have  mi/ 
hatn's  tied  all  the  time;  they  did,  indeed,  further  adjudgeUhat 
a  thousand  pounds  should  be  taken  from  me,  and  paid  to  'thr 
king,  but  they  did  not  condemn  me  to  be  bereft  of  my  reason! 
they  did,  indeed,  sentence  me  to  give  bail  tor  my  good  beha- 
viour for  the  further  term  of  seven  years,  making  altogether 
much  more  than  the  average  calcuJatron  of  the  duration 


54  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

life,  but  they  passed  no  sentence  of  imprisonment  on  my 
thoughts.  Nor  did  they,  in  their  sentence,  include  a  prohibi- 
tion against  my  thoughts  finding  their  way  to  America  ;  no,  nor 
against  their  producing  an  impression  there  proportioned  to  their 
correctness  and  to  the  force  with  which  they  might  be  express- 
ed. Therefore,  I  presume,  it  will  be  thought  that  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph censured  me  withbut  cause,  though,  I  must  confess,  that 
his  censure  is  more  than  compensated  for  by  the  information 
that  he  has  given  me  and  the  world,  that  my  efforts,  as  to  Ame- 
rica, coincide  with  those  of  Mr.  Adams ;  and,  in  return,  I  will 
inform  him,  that  he  has  the  honour  to  agree,  not  only  in  senti- 
ments, but  also  in  expressions,  with  every  literary  slave  in  the 
British  dominions,  with  every  one  whose  hand  is  like  the  beg- 
gar's dish,  and  whose  columns  have  a  price  as  regular,  though 
not,  perhaps,  so  moderate,  as  stalls  at  a  market,  or  beds  at  an 
inn. 

From  this  digression  I  should  now  return  to  the  Proceedings 
in  the  American  Congress,  a  regular  account  of  which  1  should 
lay  before  your  Royal  Highness;  but  the  performance  of  this 
duty  must,  for  want  of  time,  be  deferred  till  my  next. 

I  am,  &c.  £c. 

WM.  COBBETT. 

State  Prison,  Newgate,  30th  January,  1 812. 


LETTER  V. 

TO  THE  PRINCE  REGENT. 

Kir, 

I  NOW  proceed  to  place  before  your  Royal  Highness  aa 
account  of  the  measures  proposed  by  the  American  Congress 
to  be  adopted,  in  consequence  of  the  refusal  of  our  government 
to  comply  with  the  demands  of  the  American  President,  rela- 
tive to  the  Orders  in  Council  and  the  impressment  of  Ameri- 
can Seamen. 

The  lower  house  of  Congress  began  by  receiving  and  ap- 
proving of  a  Report  of  their  committee  of  foreign  relations, 
which  report  I  subjoin  to  this  letter.  That  report  can  be  re- 
garded in  no  other  light  than  as  a  manifesto  against  England. 
It  sets  forth  the  grounds  of  complaint ;  and  it  then  recommends 
preparations  for  war. 

This  recommendation  has  been  acted  upon,  and  prepara- 
tions for  war  are  actually  going  on.  An  act  was  brought  for- 
ward immediately  for  raising  a  body  of  regular  troops  ;  and, 
after  much  deliberation,  this  act  appears  to  have  beeo  passed. 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esy.  52S 

the  number  of  troops  amounting  to  25,000  men.  And,  here, 
let  me  beg  your  Royal  Highness  to  observe,  that  these  troops 
are  to  have  a  bounty  in  lands,  of  which  every  man  is  to  receive 
160  acres.  These  men  will  have  the  soil  to  fight  for;  their 
motive  of  action  will  not  be  of  that  vague  and  indefinite  kind 
which  is  held  forth  by  Colonel  Dillon,  in  his  work  addressed, 
as  he  says,  by  permission,  to  you.  That  these  troops  are  not 
intended  for  purposes  of  mere  defence  will  be  obvious  to  your 
Royal  Highness;  but  of  the  way  in  which  they  will  probably 
be  employed  I  shall  speak  by  and  by. 

Beside  these,  the  President  is  to  be  enabled  to  employ  fifty 
thousand  volunteers,  whose  services  may,  at  any  time,  be  ex- 
tended beyond  the  limits  of  the  United  States,  if  the  parties 
volunteering  choose  to  be  so  employed. 

The  Militia,  consisting  of  all  the  able  men  in  the  country, 
without  any  exception  as  to  rank  or  degree,  the  President  may 
call  out  in  such  numbers  as  may  be  found  necessary. 

Some  national  ships  are  to  be  built ;  those  that  they  now 
have  are  to  be  repaired  and  armed ;  gunboats  are  to  be  fitted 
out;  and  the  merchant  ships  are  to  be  permitted  to  arm  and 
to  defend  themselves  at  sea.  But  the  greatest  of  the  mari- 
time measures  is,  a  high  reward  to  be  offered  to  any  Ameri- 
cans on  board  British  ships,  and  to  the  associates  of  such  Ame- 
ricans, in  case  of  their  bringing  in  to  an  American  port  any 
British  ship  of  war.  This  is,  in  fact,  a  reward  offered  to  the 
crews  of  British  ships  to  desert  to  the  enemy,  and  to  carry 
their  ship  with  them,  upon  the  same  principle,  I  presume,  that 
our  consul  at  Valencia,  and  our  commandant  at  Gibraltar  are, 
in  our  public  prints,  said  to  have  offered  so  much  a  man  to 
each  soldier  of  the  French  army  that  should  desert  to  them, 
and  so  much  in  addition  provided  the  deserter  brought  his 
horse.  Whether  this  be  consistent  with  morality,  I  shall  net, 
at  present  inquire ;  but  of  this  I  am  very  sure,  that  the  mea- 
sure adopted,  or  proposed  to  be  adopted,  by  the  Congress,  is 
of  a  very  dangerous  tendency,  especially  when  we  consider 
how  large  a  portion  of  Americans  and  other  foreigners  we  have 
on  board  of  our  ships. 

These  measures  are  not,  sir,  to  be  considered  as  the  mea- 
sures of  a  faction,  whose  object,  in  getting  the  nation  into  a 
war,  is  to  create  the  means  of  fattening  themselves,  and  their 
families,  and  dependants,  and  supporters  ;  they  are  the  mea- 
sures of  the  people  of  America,  speaking  through  the  lips  of 
their  real  representatives,  unbribed  themselves,  and  chosen 
without  the  aid  of  bribery  ;  and  they  arise  out  of  the  grounds 
of  complaint  against  us,  which  I  before  had  the  honour  to 
lay  before  your  Royal  Highness.  The  prostituted  press 
of  London  has,  for  many  months  past,  been  endeavouring 


56  Letters  of  William  Cobbclt,  Esq. 

to  make  it9  deluded  readers  believe,  that  the  partisans  of 
England,  in  America,  were  the  most  numerous  ;  and  that,  if 
the  government  engaged  in  war  against  us,  the  people  would 
turn  against  it,  and  that  a  separation  of  the  States  would 
take  place.  I  endeavoured  to  guard  the  public,  and  your  Roy- 
al Highness,  against  these  delusive  statements;  and  we  now  see 
that,  though  there  are  two  parties  in  America,  both  parties  have 
united  against  us,  with  as  much  cordiality  as  the  two  parties  in 
our  House  of  Commons  united  against  Mr.  Madock's  motion  of 
the  1 1th  of  May,  1K09,  for  an  inquiry  into  the  sale  of  seats  in 
that  honourable  house,  and,  surely,  an  union  more  cordial  than 
that  has  seldom  been  heard  of  between  opponents  of  any  de- 
scription. Those  members  of  the  congress  who  have  voted 
against  the  war  with  England  are  so  few,  and  those  who  have 
spoken  against  it,  are,  for  the  most  part,  so  notoriously  contemp- 
tible, that  the  measure  may  be  regarded  as  having  been  adopt- 
ed without  opposition.  The  Congress  has  not  been  long  elect- 
ed;  the}  have  just  received  the  instructions  of  their  constitu- 
ents; and  it  will  not  be  long  before  those  constituents  will  again 
hn\e  an  opportunity  of  deciding  upon  their  merits  or  demerits. 
None  of  those  members  hold  officer  of  any  sort;  none  of  them 
have  pensions  or  sinecures,  and  none  of  them  can  touch,  in  any 
way,  a  farthing  of  the  money  which  may  be  expended  in  con- 
sequence of  their  votes  for  the  creation  of  any  office.  This 
being  the  case,  the  voice  of  the  Congress  must  be  the  voice  of 
the  nation  ;  and  it  would  be  delusion  unexampled  to  believe  that 
the  people  of  America  are  not  entering  heartily  into  this 
war. 

Our  prosti luted  press,  unable  any  longer  to  keep  up  the  de- 
lusion of  the  disinclination  of  the  American  nation  to  resist  by 
force  of  arms,  now  tell  the  public,  that  the  war  will  not  be  of 
long  duration;  and  this  prediction  they  found  chiefly  upon 
the  supposition,  that  America  has  not  the  pecuniary  means 
sufficient  for  the  carrying  on  of  war. 

The  collection  of  taxes  is,  indeed,  what  the  Americans  do 
not  like;  but,  it  does  not  follow,  that,  for  a  great  purpose,  they 
would  not  submit  to  a  trifling  tax  ;  and  a  very  trifling  tax  indeed 
would  suffice,  it  is  true  that  they  now  pay  but  little.  In 
America  the  taxes  do  not  amount  to  a  dollar  A  head,  taking  the 
pt-ople  one  with  another ;  here,  if  we  exclude  the  army,  the 
navy,  the  paupers,  and  the  prisoners,  the  taxes  amount  to  fifty 
dollars  a  head.  By  putting  on  a  second  dollar,  the  government 
would  double  its  means  ;  and,  surely,  an  American  can  pay  two 
dollcirs  ;ts  well  as  an  Englishman  can  pay  fifty.  One  of  your 
Royal  Highness's  servants,  that  stirring  old  gentleman,  Mr. 
George  .Rose,  assures  us,  that  our  population  increases  in  war, 
and  that  the  longer  the  war  continues  the  faster  we  increase  in 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  57 

numbers.  He  says  nothing  of  the  increase  of  paupers  ;  but, 
upon  his  principle,  American  population  cannot  be  checked  by 
war ;  lor  he  will  hardly  contend  that  this  quality  of  fecundity 
appertains  exclusively  to  us.  Another  of  your  servants,  Lord 
Harrowby,  has  lately  asserted,  that  the  prosperity  of  this  coun- 
try is  now  greater  than  it  ever  was.  Your  Royal  Highness 
will  not,  therefore,  believe,  that  America  is  to  be  beggared  and 
ruined  by  a  war,  which,  in  all  probability,  will  last  only  a  few 
years. 

Besides,  the  resources  of  America,  in  her  lands,  are  very 
great.  She  has,  owing  to  her  peculiar  situation,  a  species  of 
fund  to  draw  upon  which  no  other  nation  has.  She  is  now 
about  to  raise  an  army  with  a  bounty,  in  money,  of  16  dollars 
a  man-  The  rest  of  his  bounty  is  to  consist  of  lands,  which, 
of  course,  cost  the  people  nothing;  and,  in  this  same  way,  a 
large  portion  of  the  demands  of  a  war  may  and  will  be  met. 

Much  has  been  said  about  the  natural  ties  between  the  two 
countries.  This,  considered  as  an  impediment  to  war,  is  the 
grossest  of  all  the  delusions,  and  never  could  have  been  practised 
upon  any  nation  but  this.  All  that  remains  of  a  recollection  of 
the  former  connexion  is  calculated  to  produce  hostility.  It  is 
fine  enough  to  flourish  away  upon  the  subject  of  the  Americans 
being  of  the  same  family  with  us  ;  but  there  are  many,  and 
many  hundreds  and  thousands  of  men  in  America,  who  recollect 
that  their  fathers  were  killed  by  those  Brunswickers  and  Hes- 
sians, and  other  German  mercenaries,  whom  England  hired  to 
send  against  them,  because  they  insisted  upon  the  principle  of 
no  taxation  without  representation.  These  ideas  of  kindred 
might  do  very  well  in  a  poem ;  but  they  are  despicable  in  po- 
litical reflections,  and  only  discover  the  folly,  or  the  wickedness, 
of  those  who  obtrude  them  upon  the  public. 

There  appears,  then,  no  good  reason  to  suppose  that  the 
Americans  will  not  enter  upon  the  war,  and  that  they  will  not 
persevere  in  it,  till  they  obtain  its  object,  or,  at  least,  till  they 
have  fairly  tried  their  strength.  As  to  ihe  consequences  o(  such 
war  to  us,  some  of  them  I  should  regard  as  ultimately  beneficial. 
The  loss  of  Canada  I  should  deem  a  gain,  though  it  is  worth  to  us 
a  thousand  empires  in  the  east ;  that  is  to  say,  it  is  not  a  thou- 
sandth part  so  mischievous  to  us. 

Another  loss  would  be  deeply  felt,  I  mean  the  loss,  for  ever, 
of  America. as  a  market  for  our  goods.  Lord  Sheffield  has  late- 
ly said,  that  what  America  does  not  take  this  year,  c»he  must 
take  next  year;  that,  pass  what  acts  she  will,  she  must,  in  the 
end,  be  clothed  by  us.  His  Lordship's  mind  does  not  keep 
pace  with  the  events  of  the  world.  The  Morning  Post  and 
Courier  are,  I  suspect,  his  chief  instructors  as  to  what  has  bsen 
passing  for  the  last  ten  years  ;  or  he  would  have  known  thaf 

8 


bo  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

manufactures  have  arrived  at  great  perfection  in  America;  that 
she  is  able  to  supply  herself;  and  that  she  already  exports 
cotton  and  wool  in  a  partly  manufactured  stale.  A  war  of  a  few 
years'  continuance  would  sever  the  two  countries  for  ever  as  to 
manufactures  ;  and  this  is  one  reason  why  the  government  of 
America,  which  wishes  to  cut  off  the  connexion  with  England, 
is  disposed  for  war.  This,  however,  is  not,  in  my  opinion,  an 
evil.  A  temporary  one  it  is :  but,  1  can  see  no  good  that  can 
arise  to  England  from  being  the  workshop  for  America,  while 
we  do  not  raise  corn  enough  to  feed  ourselves. 

But,  sir,  there  are  consequences,  which  may  be  produced 
by  a  war  with  America,  well  calculated  to  make  one  think  se- 
riously on  the  event.  Mr.  Joel  Barlow,  who,  in  the  year  1 792, 
went  as  a  deputy  from  a  society  of  men  in  England  to  present 
a  congratulatory  address  to  the  National  Convention  of  France, 
and  who  was,  at  that  time,  hunted  down  and  proscribed  like 
Paine  and  many  others,  is  now  American  ambassador  at  the 
court  of  Napoleon,  where  he  has  to  negotiate  with  Count  Darn, 
who,  in  that  same  year,  179*2,  was  in  England,  and  was  chased 
out  of  England  along  with  Mr.  Chauvelin.  These  two  men, 
who  are  old  acquaintances,  will  not  be  long  incoming  to  a  clear 
understanding.  They  have  both  now  an  opportunity  of  re- 
paying ;he  kindness  they  received  from  England,  and  there  can 
be  little  doubt  of  their  having  the  disposition  to  do  it. 

By  a  hearty  co-operation  between  America  and  France, fleets,, 
and  formidable  fleets  too,  may  be  sent  to  sea,  much  sooner  than 
our  overweening  confidence  will,  perhaps,  permit  us  to  believe  ; 
and,  if  a  force  of  forty  ships  of  the  line,  with  a  suitable  number 
of  frigates,  can  be  sent  out  from  the  ports  of  France  and  Holland 
in  the  course  of  a  year,  there  is  no  telling  what  may  be  the  con- 
sequence to  this  kingdom.  America  has  more  than  a  hundred 
thousand  seamen ;  she  has  facilities  of  all  sorts  for  building 
ships;  and,  with  the  aid  of  France,  would  soon  become  truly 
formidable ;  because  we  should  not  dare  to  send  a  merchant 
ship  to  any  part  of  the  world  without  a  convoy.  Americans  would 
enter  in  the  French  naval  service;  those  whoaie  now  captains 
of  merchantmen  would  be  templed  with  the  honour  of  command- 
ing ships  of  war ;  they  have,  for  the  greater  part,  some  particu- 
lar cause  of  hatred  against  England,  and  would  be  animated  by 
the  double  motive  of  ambition  and  revenge. 

No  man  at  all  acquainted  with  American  seamen  will  ever  speak 
of  them  with  contempt.  They  are  universally  allowed  to  be 
excellent  seamen ;  active  and  daring,  but  not  more  so  than  they 
are  skilful  and  cool.  These  are  precisely  the  ingredients  that 
the  Emperor  Napoleon  stands  in  need  of;  and  what  then,  sir, 
shall  be  said  of  those  English  ministers  who  shall  force  then 
into  his  bands  ( 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  5£ 

A  war  with  America  would  hasten  the  work  of  revolution  in 
Mexico,  an<iit  would  have  the  further  effect  of  making  that  coun- 
try, in  its  state  of  independence,  start  in  hostility  to  us;  be- 
cause, between  North  and  South  America  there  would  inevita- 
bly be  a  close  connexion.  Indeed,  sir,  this  appears  to  me  to 
be  one  of  the  great  objects  which  America  has,  in  now  going 
to  war.  She  sees  that  a  revolution  is  taking  place  in  South 
America  ;  she  sees  that,  if  that  revolution  be  crushed,  England, 
under  the  character  of  Protector  of-Sp&in,  will,  in  fact,  govern 
South  America,  if  for  no  other  purpose,  for  that  of  keeping  the 
mines  out  of  the  hands  of  France.  That  England  should  go- 
vern South  America  is  what  North  America  can  never  permit  5 
therefore,  the  latter  must,  by  some  mean*  or  other,  assist  the 
South  Americans  to  secure  their  independence  ;  and  this  as- 
sistance North  America  cannot  give  with  effect,  unless  she  be 
at  mar  nilh  England*;  for,  as  she  has  seen  in  the  case  of  the 
Florida*)  the  moment  she  makes  a  move  towards  the  Spa- 
nish territory,  England  steps  forward,  as  the  protector  of  Fer- 
dinand, and  coiuplainsof  her  conduct. 

If,  therefore,  the  President  of  the  United  States  has  resolved 
upon  doing  all  that  he  is  able  to  promote  and  secure  the  indepen- 
dence of  South  America,  he  must  also  have  resolved  upon  a 
war  with  England,  which,  in  that  case,  is  not  to  be  avoided  by 
a  repeal  of  the  Orders  in  Council  and  an  abandonment  of  our 
practice  of  impressing  American  seamen,  unless  we  have  the 
wisdom  to  declare  beforehand  that  we  shall  leave  the  South 
Americans  wholly  to  themselves.  This  is  the  golden  opportu- 
nity for  the  South  Americans  to  assert  their  rights  and  to  be- 
come free.  Our  war  againsi  Napoleon,  on  the  land,  disables  us 
(if  we  were  inclined  to  do  it)  from  sending  soldiers  to  support 
the  old  system  ;  and  our  fleets  are  exceedingly  well  employed 
in  preventing  Napoleon  from  sending  soldiers  for  that  purpose  ; 
the  government  of  Old  Spain  has  neither  troops,  nor  ships;  there 
are  no  Bruns wickers,  or  Hessians,  or  Waldeckers,or  Anspachera 
to  be  hired  by  the  government  of  Old  Spain,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  war  for  independence  in  Norfh  A  nerica  ;  and  thus  are  the 
South  Americans  left  to  settle  the  dispute  with  their  own  colo- 
nial governments. 

To  this  state  of  things  the  American  President,  as  appears 
from  his  speech  at  the  opening  of  the  session,  has  not  been  inat- 
tenlive  ;  and,  it  appears  to  me  very  clear,  that  we  have  here  the 
real  foundation  of  the  sudden  change  of  the  tone  of  the  Ame- 
rican government  towards  us.  It  may  be  asked,  how  these 
views  of  the  United  States  comport  with  those  of  the  emperor 
of  France,  and  whether  he  will  approve  of  a  separation  of  South 
America  from  Old  Spain,  of  which  he,  with  but  oo  good  reason, 
expects  to  be  the  master?  la  tne  first  place,  he  has  seen  iht- 


60  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

result  of  a  war  against  independence  in  North  America,  and  the 
love  of  dominion  must  have  bereft  him  of  reason,  if  he  fail  to  profit 
from  so  memorable  a  lesson.  In  the  next  place,  he  must  see 
that,  unless  New  Spain  become  independent,  it  will  become  de- 
pendant upon  England,  he  not  having  sufficient  maritime  force 
to  keep  it  in  colonial  subjection  to  himself  against  the  will  of 
England.  And  even  if  he  were  to  receive  it  in  its  colonial  state, 
at  a  peace,  he  would  only  be  entailing  upon  himself  and  his  heirs 
the  possession  of  a  vulnerable  point,  exposed  to  the  attack  of 
England.  These  reasons  are  quite  sufficient  to  induce  him 
not  to  oppose  any  project  for  separating  New  from  Old  Spain, 
which,  notwithstanding  the  independence  of  the  countries  con- 
taining the  mines,  would  still  be  a  great  receptacle  of  the  trea- 
sures thence  derived. 

But,  when  to  these  reasons  are  added  the  many  weighty  rea- 
sons for  seeing  America  engaged  in  a  war  with  England,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  as  to  what  will  be  his  decision.  Such  a  war 
would  favour  his  views  against  us  in  so  many  ways  that  the  bare 
enumeration  would  be  tedious.  It  would  lock  up  the  troops  that 
we  have  now  in  Nova  Scotia,  New  Brunswick,  and  Canada, 
and  would  demand  new  levies  of  militia  and  fencibles  in  those 
provinces  ;  it  would  compel  us  to  send  a  larger  naval  force  to 
North  America  and  the  West  Indies  than  is  now  there;  it 
would  compel  us  to  send  convoys  with  every  fleet  of  merchant 
vessels  to  the  end  of  their  voyage  ;  it  would,  of  course,  divide 
our  fleets,  and  thereby  weaken  our  strength  in  the  European 
seas  ;  it  would  (as  far  as  that  is  an  evil)  make  it  much  more  ex- 
pensive and  difficult  to  maintain  our  armies  in  Spain  and  Portu- 
gal ;  it  would  greatly  augment  our  expenses,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  our  danger. 

If  I  were  asked  what  ought  to  be  done  to  prevent  war  with 
America,  I  should  say,  certainly,  first  repeal  the  Orders  in 
Council ;  but  I  am  far  from  supposing  that  that  measure  alone 
would  be  sufficient.  Indeed,  it  seems  to  me,  that  the  impress- 
ment of  American  seamen  must  be  abandoned  ;  and  to  this  I 
would  add,  a  declaration  that  England  would  not  interfere  in 
the  affairs  of  Spanish  South  America.  There  would  then  be 
an  end  of  the  causes  of  ill  blood  ;  we  should  then  have  in  Ame- 
rica, not  a  faction  for  us,  but  we  should  have  the  whole  nation 
for  our  friends.  We  should  also  have  a  friend  in  South  Ame- 
rica ;  and  to  these  countries  we  might  look  with  confidence  for 
the  means  of  forming  a  combination  against  the  overwhelming 
power  of  France. 

I  am  well  aware,  sir,  of  the  great  obstacles  to  such  an  ar- 
rangement; but  these  obstacles  it  is  in  the  power  of  your  Roy- 
al Highness  to  remove.  This  country,  which  has  so  long  been 
suffering,  now  looks  to  you  for  some  mitigation,  at  least,  of  its 


Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq.  61 

sufferings  ;  and  I,  therefore,  trust,  that  the  dawn  of  your 
authority  will  not  be  clouded  with  an  additional  war  ;  a  war 
that  will  complete  the  round  of  English  hostility  to  nations 
looked  upon  as  free.  It  w^a  a  fatal  day  which  saw  the 
sword  of  England  drawn  against  the  republicans  of  France. 
What  a  lesson  do  the  effects  of  that  war  hold  out  to  your  Royal 
Highness!  There  is  no  man,  be  he  who  he  may,  who  does 
not  now  dread  the  ultimate  consequences.  That  that  war  might 
have  been  prevented  all  the  world  is  now  convinced ;  an*',  if 
war  should  take  place  with  America,  the  same  opinion  with 
respect  to  it  will  hereafter  prevail,  but  it  will  prevail,  perhaps, 
when  it  will  be  useless.  Princes,  more  than  other  men,  are 
liable  to  be  deceived,  and  it  is  too  often  a  matter  of  great  dif- 
ficulty to  undeceive  them ;  yet,  of  what  vast  importance  it  is, 
that  they  should  know  the  truth  !  And  how  urgent  a  duty  it 
is  to  convey  it  to  their  ear  if  one  has  the  power  !  The  lives 
of  thousands,  and  the  happiness  of  millions,  depend  upon  the 
decision  which  your  Royal  Highness  shall  make  witk  regard 
to  this  question  of  war  or  peace  wilh  America;  and,  therefore, 
that  you  should  weigh  it  well  before  you  decide  must  be  the 
anxious  hope  of  every  man  who  has  a  sincere  regard  for  the 
fame  and  the  safety  of  the  country. 

I  am,  &c.  £c. 

WM.  COBBETT. 

State  Prison,  Newgate,  13th  February,  1312. 


LETTER  VI. 

TO   THE    PRINCE  REGEXT. 

• 

Sir, 

Since  I  was  imprisoned  in  this  jail  for  writing  and  publish- 
ing an  article  on  the  flogging  of  English  local  miltiiamcn,  at 
the  town  of  Ely,  and  on  the  employing  of  German  troops  upon 
that  occasion,  I  have  presumed  to  do  myself  <he  honour  to  ad- 
dress five  letters  to  your  Royal  Highness,  relative  to  the  dis- 
pute between  this  country  and  the  United  States  of  A  ;ierica. 
In  the  first  three  of  these  letters,  which  were  published  ui  Au- 
gust and  September  last,  I  exerted  my  humble  endeavours  to 
draw  the  attention  of  your  Royal  Highness  to  the  mture  of  that 
dispute  ;  to  caution  you  against  the  danger  of  suffering  your 
minister?  to  urge  us  on  to  a  war  wilh  A'neriMr^1  to  give  you  a 
true  account  of  the  feelings  of  the  people  of  America  upon  the 
subject ;  and  to  prevail  on  you  to  cause  the  Orders  in  Council 
to  be  rescinded.  I  had,  nine  months  before  the  date  of  these 
letters,  exhorted  your  ministers  to  adopt  this  measure,  giving 


62  Letters  of  William  Cobbttt,  Esq. 

them  what  I  deemed  sufficient  reasons  for  believing,  that  they 
would  be  compelled  to  adopt  it  at  la^t ;  or,  that  they  would  have 
to  justify  themselves  for  plunging  the  country  into  a  war  with 
America. 

What  has  now  taken  place  in  the  House  of  Commons,  in  that 
same  house  which  has,  for  so  long  a  time,  supported  the  mi- 
nisters in  their  adherence  to  the  Orders  in  Council,  can  hardly 
fail  to  have  awakened  in  fhe  mind  of  your  Royal  Highness  a  re- 
collection of  these  uiy  efforts,  which,  to  the  misfortune  of  the 
country,  appear  to  have  been  despised  by  your  late  minister 
and  his  colleagues.  Now,  however,  those  great  teachers,  Expe- 
rience and  Adversity,  seem  to  have  commanded  attention  ;  and, 
in  consequence  of  a  motion  of  Mr.  Brougham,  at  the  close  of  an 
investigation  brought  forward  by  that  gentleman,  and  conducted 
by  him  to  the  close,  with  spirit,  perseverance,  and  ability 
which  do  him  infinite  honour,  and  which  have  received,  as  they 
merit,  that  highest  of  honours,  the  thanks  and  applause  of  all  the 
sensibly  and  puhlic-spirited  part  of  the  nation  ;  in  consequence 
of  this  motion,  made  on  the  16lb  instant,  the  ministry  appear  to 
have  yielded  rather  than  put  the  question  to  the  vote,  and  to 
have  agreed  (hut  the  Orders  in  Council,  as  far  as  objected  to  by 
America,  shoul.l  be  annulled. 

Here,  then,  sir,  is  an  occasion  for  you  to  pause  and  to  re- 
flect. And,  the  first  thing  to  ask  is,  what  new  grounds  present 
themselves  for  the  annulling  of  these  orders.  T.-iere  are  none. 
They  stand  upon  precisely  the  same  footing  that  they  have 
stood  on  ever  since  the  month  of  November,  1U10,  when  your 
ministers  were,  by  the  A  nerican  government,  called  upon  to 
annul  them  in  imitation  of  the  revocation  of  the  decrees  ot  Ber- 
lin and  Milan.  I  backed  the  application  of  the  American  mi- 
nister ;  I  told  your  ministers  that  the  sooner  they  repealed  the 
orders  the  better  ;  I  foresaw  that  war  must,  at  last,  be  the  con- 
sequence of  their  persisting  in  a  refusal  ;  I  urged  them  to  do 
what  they  ought  to  do  of  their  own  accord,  and  not  to  wail  till 
they  should  be  compelled  to  do  it.  But,  sir,  your  minister,  that 
minister  for  whose  pu  die  services  we  the  people  of  England, 
are  now  to  pay  50,00i|/.  down,  and  3,000/.  per  annum ;  that 
minister,  to  whose  memory  we  are  now  to  erect  a  monument  ; 
that  minister  persisted  in  his  refusal  and  tauntingly  set  America 
at  defiance  ;  the  best,  and,  indeed,  the  only  excuse,  for  which, 
is,  to  suppose  him  profoundly  ignorant  of  the  temper  and  the 
means  of  America,  and  of  the  interests  of  England  in  respect  to 
her  transatlan%  connexions. 

America,  whose  government  is  very  properly  obliged  to 
cons-iii  tne  w  ibties  ot  the  people  at  large,  was  slow  in  her  move- 
ments towards  measures  of  hostility  Like  a  truly  wise  man, 
the  President  not  only  used  all  the  means  in  his  power  to 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  63 

uvoid  the  extremity  of  war  ;  but  he  also  took  care  to  prove  to 
the  world  that  he  had  done  so.  At  last,  however,  the  Con- 
gress began  to  make  preparations  for  war,  beginning  with  fully 
explaining  to  the  people  the  grounds  of  their  so  doing.  From 
one  step  they  proceeded  to  another,  and,  at  every  step,  their 
proceedings  became  more  and  more  a  subject  of  moektry  with 
all  those  who,  in  England,  take  to  themselves  the  exclusive  ap- 
pellation of  loyal  men  and  friends  of  government. 

It  was  in  this  stage  of  the  occurrences,  on  the  1st  of  Febraary 
last,  just  after  the  arrival  of  the  report  of  the  committee  of 
Foreign  Relations  to  the  lower  house  of  Congress,  that  I 
thought  it  my  duty  to  address  a  fourth  letter  to  your  Royal 
Highness,  the  chief  object  of  which  was  to  exhort  you  not  to 
believe  the  representations  of  the  hired  pr^ss,  which  was  hard  at 
work  to  inculcate  a  belief,  thaT  the  report  in  question,  and 
all  the  warlike  steps  taken  by  the  Congress,  were  mere  empty 
noise  ;  mere  boasting  and  bullying  ;  that  all  would  end  in  smoke, 
and  that  our  ministers  might  adhere  to  theii  Orders  in  Council 
with  perfect  safety.  I  occupied  no  less  than  four  pages  in  my 
earnest  endeavours  to  impress  upon  the  mind  of  your  Royal 
Highness  a  distrust  of  this  hired,  this  base,  this  prostituted 
press,  which,  while  it  was  vilifying  the  President  and  the  Con- 
gress, while  it  was  calling  them  tools  in  the  hands  of  France, 
was  telling  the  people  of  England,  that  a  war  with  America 
would  be  felt  by  them  no  more  "  than  a  war  with  the  rocks  of 
Scilly."  Many  were  the  prints  that  laboured  to  these  ends ; 
but  the  print  pre-eminent  in  this,  as  in  almost  every  other  im- 
position on  the  public,  was  the  TIMKS,  the  prostituted  columns 
of  which  has,  within  these  two  years,  done  England  more  mis- 
chief than  those  of  all  the  other  prints  put  together. 

What  will  be  said  by  these  prints,  now  that  they  see  the 
Orders  in  Council  annulled  even  before  America  has  struck  a 
blow,  is  more  a  matter  of  curiosity  than  of  concern  ;  but  it 
must,  with  your  Royal  Highness,  be  a  subject  of  deep  sorrow 
and  mortification  to  see  your  ministers  now  lowering  their  tone, 
taking  a  cowering  attitude,  without  any  new  reason  being  afford- 
ed in  the  conduct  of  either  France  or  America,  and  before  the 
ink  is  hardly  dry  of  that  DECLARATION,  wherein  you 
were  advised  to  proclaim  to  the  whole  world,  that  you  would 
not  annul  the  Orders  in  Council,  till  France  had,  by  a  distinct 
and  solemn  act,  made  an  unqualified  revocation  of  her  decrees. 
France,  so  far  from  doing  this,  has,  in  the  most  distinct  manner, 
proclaimed  the  contrary  ;  and  yet,  our  Orders  are,  or  are  to  be, 
annulled  !  After  all  the  bold  talk  of  your  ministers ;  after  all 
the  pledges  of  perseverance  that  they  have  put  in  your  mouth ; 
after  all  their  contemptuous  defiance  of  America,  here  we  are 
doing  the.  very  act  which  we  might  have  done  nearly  two  years 


64  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

ago,  and  might  thereby  have  prevented  much  of  the  misery, 
and  all  the  melancholy  consequences  of  that  misery,  in  the  cen- 
tral counties  of  England  ! 

That  we  should  be  forced  to  adopt  this  measure,  or  to  sus- 
tain a  ^ar  with  America,  might  have  been  foreseen,  and  ought 
to  have  been  foreseen,  by  your  ministers  from  the  beginning. 
I  am  warranted  in  asserting  ihis,  because  I  foresaw  and  fore- 
told if ;  but,  so  Ion?  ago  as  the  month  of  January  last,  it  be- 
came so  e>  idenl  to  me,  lhaM  could  not  refrain  from  reiterating  a 
positive  assurance  (hat  it  would  and  must  be  the  case.  At  Hie 
time  to  which  I  here  refer,  jour  minister,  (hat  minister  to 
whose  memory  we  are  now  to  erect  a  monument,  told  Ihe 
House  of  Commons,  that  America  would  be  totally  ruined  if 
she  persisted  in  her  measures  against  England,  and  he,  with  a 
sort  ot  supercilious  benignity,  observed,  that  he  did  not  wish  to 
see  her  "  destroyed*"  I  saw  her  affairs  in  a  very  different  light, 
and,  at  that  very  moment,  told  the  public,  that  what  is  now 
come  to  pass  would  come  to  pass.  My  words  of  the  18th  of 
January  were  these:  "  The  Americans  said,  that  the  Orders 
ought  to  be  repealed,  and  we  refused  to  repeal  them; 
and  they  now  say  that  we  shall  repeal  them,  or  that  we 
shall  have  them  amongst  our  enemies.  Now,  then,  shall  we 
repeal  them,  or  shall  we  not  ?  Shall  we,  after  all,  give  way  ? 
Shall  we,  after  all  our  vaunts  and  all  our  threats,  yield  at  the 
name  of  war  ?  Shall  we,  who  can  conquer  thirty  millions  of  peo- 
ple in  five  days,  retract  our  determinations  at  the  menace  of  eight 
millions  ?  And,  shall  we  do  it,  too,  in  consequence  of  a  Mani- 
festo, in  which,  according  to  the  interpretation  of  the  Times 
newspaper,  our  court  is  called  a  corrupted  court ?  Shall  we 
yield,  at  last,  upon  terms  like  these  ?  My  opinion  is,  that  we 
shall.  Aye,  hard  as  the  thing  may  be  to  get  down,  my  opi- 
nion is,  that  we  shall  swallow  it 

The   wiseacres   of  the   hired 

press  say,  that  the  Orders  will  be  repealed,  when  Napoleon 
revokes  the  Decrees  "  with  the  same  formality  that  he  employ- 
ed in  promulgating  them."  Here  they  foolishly  make  new 
disgrace  for  themselves  :  for  he  will,  I  dare  say,  do  no  such 
thing.  The  Americans  say,  that  he  has  revoked  them  to  their 
satisfaction.  They  will  not  call  upon  him  to  issue  any  procla- 
mations or  edicts.  They  are  perfectly  satisfied  with  what  he 
has  done  ;  and,  therefore,  this  new  pretension  is  a  very  foolish 
thing;  il  is  keeping  just  the  ends  of  the  horns  projecting.  When 
the  wise  men  were  at  it,  they  would  have  done  well  io  draw 
them  in  out  of  sight.  For  draw  them  in  they  must,  or  there  is 

a  war  with  America." 

By  and  by  I  shall  offer  an  obser- 
vation or  two  upon  the  reasons  the  Americans  have  for  going 
to  war,  arid  upon  the  probable  consequences  of  such  war,  if  it 


Letters  of  William  Colbett,  Esq.  65 

should  take  place.  At  present  I  shall,  as  to  this  point,  only  re- 
peat my  opinion,  that  it  will  take  place  unless  the  Orders  in 
Council  be  repealed ;  and  also,  my  opinion,  that  these  Orders 
will  be  repealed  ;  and  that,  too,  without  any  of  the  saving  con- 
ditions, of  which  the  half  horned  Courier  is  so  silly  as  to  talk. 
It  mill  mortify  somepeople.  but  it  mill  be  done-  It  will  make 
those  Jacobins  and  Levellers  in  America  laugh,  and  Mr.  Ma- 
dison more,  perhaps,  than  any  body  else  ;  but  I  say  it  mill  be 
done.  Bonaparte  will  laugh  too  ;  but  it  will  be  done;  and, 
perhaps,  the  least  mortifying  circumstance  will  not  be,  that  it 
is  what  1  recommended  fifteen  months  ago.  How  much  better 
would  it  have  been,  If  IT  HAD  BEEN  DONE  THEN. 
How  much  better  in  every  respect ;  and  especially  how  much 
better  for  our  character  !  However,  better  late  than  never  ;  on- 
ly, when  it  is  done,  I  hope  it  will  be  done  with  as  good  a  grace 
as  possible,  and  that  after  that,  the  venal  prints  in  London  will 
never  more  foretell  the  downfal  of  Mr.  Madison,  and  will  see 
the  folly  of  venting  their  spleen,  in  words,  against  those  who  are 
beyond  our  reach  ;  of  showing  the  teeth  where  one  cannot 
bite." 

These  passages,  sir,  were  published  on  the  1 8//i  of  January 
last ;  so  that  it  would  seem,  that  though  shut  up  in  one  of 
"  His  Majesty's  Jails,"  I  knew  what  was  doing  in  the  world 
better  than  "  His  Majesty's  Ministers"  did.  "  How  much 
better  would  it  have  been,  if  it  had  been  done  then."  These 
were  my  words  five  months  ago,  sir;  and,  therefore,  they 
apply  with.the  more  force  now.  "  How  much'  better  would  it 
have  been,  if  it  had  been  done  then  /"  How  much  better 
would  it  have  been,  if  my  opinion  had  been  acted  upon  ;  if  my 
advice,  so  urgently  and  so  respectfully  tendered  to  your  Royal 
Highness,  had  been  followed !  What  national  shame,  what 
humiliation,  what  misery,  what  melancholy  scenes,  would  have 
been  avoided !  There  can,  I  think,  be  no  doubt  in  the  mind 
of  your  Royal  Highness,  that  the  troubles  which  we  have  wit- 
nessed in  the  manufacturing  counties  have  arisen  chiefly  from 
the  want  of  employment  amongst  the  manufacturers,  which, 
lowering  the  wages  at  the  same  time  that  corn  was  rising  in 
price,  has,  in  the  end,  produced  all  the  scenes  of  ftusery,  all 
the  acts  of  violence,  and  the  melancholy  fate  of  so  many  of  our 
countrymen*  There  can,  I  think,  be  no  doubt,  that  the  per- 
severance in  the  Orders  in  Council,  and  certain  other  parts  of 
our  maritime  system  connected  with  them,  have  been  the  chief 
cause  of  all  these  calamities  ;  and,  when  we  behold  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  people,  as  proved  before  the  House  of  Commons  ; 
when  we  see  the  soldiers  stationed  to  protect  the  judges  in  the 
courts  of  justice ;  when  we  see  the  soldiers  employed  (as  is 
stated  in  the  public  prints)  to  guard  the  sheriff  and  his  officers 

9 


lib  Letters  of  William  Cobbell,  Esq. 

in  the  performance  of  their  awful  duty  of  executing  the  men  &1> 
Chester;  when  we  are  now  told  of  thirty-eight  men  being  just 
committed  in  a  body  to  Lancaster  jail,  out  of  which,  eight  persona 
have  just  been  taken  to  be  hanged,  amongst  which  eight,  one  is 
stated  to  have  been  a  woman, "  Hannah  Smith,  for  committing  a 
highway  robbery,  by  STEALIiNG  POTATOES  at  Bank 
Top,  in  the  town  of  Manchester :"  when  we  behold  all  these 
things,  sir,  and  scores  of  others  that  might  be  added  to  the 
list,  and  when  we  reflect,  that  they  might  all  have  been  prevent- 
ed if  my  advice  had  been  followed  a  year  and  a  half  ago; 
when  we  thus  reflect,  and  when  we  see  that  we  have  to  pay 
.'}0,000/.  down,  and  3,000/.  to  the  family,  and  have  further  to 
be  taxed  to  pay  for  a  monument  in  honour  of  the  minister  who 
rejected  this  advice,  what  must  be  the  feelings  of  the  people? 

Even  in  December  last,  when  the  corporation  of  the  city  of 
London,  upon  the  motion  of  Mr.  ALDERMAN  WOOD;  prayed 
your  Royal  Highness  tc*  take  measures  for  "  re-opening  the 
iisuat  channels  of  intercourse  with  neutral  nations  ;"  if,  even 
then,  the  Orders  in  Council  had  been  annulled,  the  greatest 
part  of  the  calamities  above  mentioned  might  have  been  pre- 
vented. But  your  ministers,  with  the  late  Mr.  Perceval  at 
their  head,  advised  your  Royal  Highness  to  reject  this  part  of 
the  prayer  of  the  city  of  London,  and  to  tell  them,  that  "  no- 
thing should  be  wanting  on  your  part  to  contribute  towards  the 
restoration  of  commercial  intercourse  between  this  country  and 
other  nations  to  the  fooling  on  which  it  had  been  usually  con- 
ducted, even  in  the  midst  of  war."  This,  sir^  was  only 
repeating  what  your  ministers  had  before  said ;  but,  sir,  you 
Lave  not  been  able  to  do  this.  You  have  not  been  able  to  make 
the  emperor  of  France  relax  in  the  smallest  degree.  His  con- 
tinental system  remains  in  full  vigour ;  and  so  it  will  remain, 
even  after  our  Orders  shall  have  been  completely  done  away. 
What,  then,  sir,  are  we  to  think  of  the  minister  who  advised 
you  to  give  such  an  answer  to  the  city  of  London  ?  What  are 
we  to  think  of  a  monument  to  the  memory  of  that  minister? 

There  is  yet  one  point,  and  it  is  a  point  of  great  interest^ 
upon  which  I  am  anxious  to  address  your  Royal  Highness ; 
and  that  is,  the  effect  which  the  aniiuiling  of  our  Orders  will 
produce  in  America.  It  has  been  said  by  the  hired  writers  ;  (who 
detest  the  Americans  only  because  they  are  free ;)  it  has  been 
said  by  these  prostituted  personages  and  their  like  elsewhere, 
that  America  will  now  demand  other  points  to  be  conceded  to 
her.  I  had  the  honour  to  slate  to  your  Royal  Highness,  in  my 
Fourth  Letter,  that  America  had  TWO  subjects  of  complaint 
against  us,  upon  both  of  which  she  must  be  satisfied,  if  we 
meant  to  have  peace  with  her :  namely,  The  Orders  in  Coun- 
cil, and  the  Impressment  of  American  seamen.  The  nature. 


Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq.  CKT 

fhe  extent,  and  the  grounds  of  the  latter  complaint,  was,  in  the 
letter  here  referred  to,  fully  stated ;  and  I  then  took  occasi&n 
to  endeavour  to  convince  your  Royal  Highness,  that  this  was 
what  stuck  closest  to  the  hearts  of  the  people  of  America  ;  and 
in  America,  sir,  the  feelings  of  the  people  are  consulted,  as 
they  ought  to  be,  upon  all  occasions. 

If  we  look  back  to  the  report  of  the  committee  of  Congress^ 
of  November  last,  we  shall  find,  that  the  heaviest  of  its  denun- 
ciations is  levelled  against  our  impressment  of  their  seamen. 
After  stating  their  grievances  as  growing  out  of  the  Orders  in 
Council,  they  proceed  to  the  subject  of  impressment,  and  say, 
"Your  committee  are  not,  however,  of  that  sect  whose  wor- 
ship is  at  the  shrine  of  a  calculating  avarice.  And  while  we 
are  laying  before  you  the  just  complaints  of  our  merchants 
against  the  plunder  of  their  ships  and  cargoes,  we  cannot  .re- 
frain from  presenting  to  the  justice  and  humanity  of  our  coun- 
try the  unhappy  case  of  our  impressed  seamen.  Although  the 
groans  of  these  victims  of  barbarity  for  the  loss  of  (what  should 
be  dearer  to  the  Americans  than  life)  THEIR  LIBERTY ; 
although  the  cries  of  their  wives  and  children  in  the  privation 
of  protectors  and  parents  have,  of  late,  been  drowned  in  the 
louder  clamours  at  the  loss  of  property,  yet  is  the  practice  of 
forcing  our  mariners  into  the  British  navy,  in  violation  of  the 
rights  of  our  flag,  carried  on  with  unabated  rigour  and  severity. 
If  it  be  our  duty  to  encourage  the  fair  and  legitimate  com- 
merce of  this  country  by  protecting  the  property  of  the  mer- 
chants, then,  indeed,  by  as  much  as  life  and  liberty  are  more 
estimable  than  ships  and  goods,  so  much  more  impressive  is 
the  duty  to  shield  the  persons  of  our  seamen,  whose  hard  and 
honest  services  are  employed,  equally  with  those  of  the  mer- 
chants, in  advancing,  under  the  mantle  of  its  laws,  the  interests 
of  their  country."  These  were  the  sentiments,  expressed  in 
that  report,  which  determined  on  war ;  and  your  Royal  High- 
ness may  be  assured,  that  up  to  these  sentiments  they  are  pre- 
pared to  act.  It  was  from  this  conviction,  that,  in  the  Fifth 
Letter  addressed  to  your  Royal  Highness,  I  said  :  "  If  I 
were  asked  what  ought  to  be  done  to  prevent  war  with  Ameri- 
ca, I  should  say,  certainly  first  repeal  the  Orders  in  Council ; 
but  I  am  far  from  supposing  that  that  measure  alone  would  be 
sufficient.  Indeed,  it  seems  to  me,  that  the  impressment  of 
American  seamen  must  be  abandoned ;  and  to  this  I  would 
add  a  declaration,  that  England  would  not  interfere  in  the  affairs 
of  Spanish  South  America.**  I  now,  sir,  most  earnestly  re- 
peat this  advice.  I  implore  you  to  resist  the  advice  of  those 
who  would  fain  make  you  believe  that  we  ought  to  persist 4n 
these  impressments.  I  implore  your  Royal  Highness  to  reflect 
*c  the  manifold  miseries  that  may  arise  fro»  this  cause  ; 


68  Letters  oj  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

to  be  pleased  to  bear  in  mind,  that  to  yield  hereafter,  to  yield 
upon  force  or  menace,  will  be  disgrace  ;  whereas,  to  yield  now 
would  indicates  sentiment  of  justice.  How  many  nations  have, 
from  the  indulgence  of  the  pride  and  obstinacy  of  their  rulers, 
been  at  last  humbled  in  the  dust !  But  this  will  never,  I  trust, 
be  the  lot  of  England  under  the  sway  of  your  Royal  Highness, 
That  nothing  may  be  wanliog  on  my  part  to  prevent  your  Roy- 
al Highness  from  being  deceived  into  the  adoption  of  injurious 
laeasures  with  regard  to  the  question  of  impressment,  I  will,  in 
my  next,  endeavour  to  lay  before  you  a  true  and  clear  state- 
ment of  the  case,  and  will  humbly  offer  you  my  opinion  as  to 
what  ought  to  be  done  by  our  government  with  respect  to  it. 
And  I  remain  in  the  meanwhile,  &c.  &c.  &e. 

WM.  COBBETT. 

State  Prison,  Newgate,  Thursday,  18th  June,  1813. 


AMERICAN  STATES. 

A  SECOND  American  war  seemed  to  be  all  that  was  wanting 
to  complete  the  round  of  adventures  in  this  jubilee  reign  ;  and 
this,  if  seems,  we  have  now  got.  Jt  was  very  hard  to  persuade 
people  that  America  would  declare  war.  I  begged  of  the 
Regent  not  to  listen  to  those  who  affected  to  laugh  at  American 
hostility.  I  told  him,  in  so  many  words,  that  we  should  have 
war,  unless  we  redressed  the  grievances  that  America  com- 
plained of.  Scarcely  any  body  could  be  prevailed  upon  to  be- 
lieve this  ;  but  it  is  come  true,  it  seems,  after  all.  The  anti- 
jacobins  will  not  believe  me ;  they  despise  my  warnings  ;  and 
they  pay  for  it  in  the  end.  Not  only  the  public,  but  the  go- 
vernment, in  England,  wholly  disbelieved  that  the  Americans 
would  go  to  war.  The  truth  is,  that  there  are  so  many  news- 
papers in  England  whose  sole  purpose  is  to  deceive  the  pub- 
lic, that  the  wonder  is  that  any  truth  at  all  ever  gains  general 
belief.  There  has,  however,  been  an  extraordinary  degree  of 
obstinacy  as  io  the  real  intention  of  America  with  regard  fo  war. 
Nothing  could  induce  people  to  believe  that  she  would  go  to 
war.  I  asserted  and  proved,  as  I  thought,  that  it  was  natural- 
ly to  be  expected  that  she  would  go  to  war,  unless  we  did  away 
the  orders  in  council,  and  also  the  impressment  of  American 
seamen  ;  but  scarcely  a  soul  would  believe  Perhaps  it  may 
fae  good  for  the  cause  of  freedom  that  I  was  not  believed  !  But 
let  us  now  quit  the  past,  and  look  a  little  to  the  future.  What 
wi|l  take  place  now  ?  The  letter,  or  pretended  letter,  from 
^Liverpool,  under  the  date  of  the  IHth  instant,  would  make  this 
cheated  nation  believe,  that  the  moment  the  news  arrives  of  the 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  69 

repeal  of  the  orders  in  council,  the  quarrel  with  America  will 
be  at  an  end.  It  will  be  best,  however,  to  let  the  letter  speak 
for  itself  :  "  I  have  to  advise  you,  that  a  pilot  boat  is  arrived 
here  to-day  from  New-York,  which  she  left  on  the  '23d  alt., 
bringing  an  account  that  the  senate,  after  deliberating  seven 
days,  had  come  to  the  resolution  of  declaring  war  against  Great 
Britain,  19  to  13.  An  express  had  arrived  at  New  York  to 
major  Bloomfield,  which  he  read  at  the  head  of  his  army,  for- 
mally announcing  that  the  United  States  had  declared  war 
against  Greai  Britain.  I  think  it  proper  to  add,  however,  that 
the  houses  in.  New  York  which  despatched  the  pilot  boat 
with  this  information,  for  the  purpose  of  making  speculations  in 
produce,  expressly  ordered,  that  should  the  orders  in  council 
be  revoked,  their  friends  here  were  on  no  account  to  make  any 
purchases  for  them.  This  is  a  convincing  proof  that  this  de- 
claration of  war  will  be  short-lived,  and  on  the  arrival  of  the 
Gazette,  containing  the  revocation  of  the  orders  in  council,  all 
matters  in  dispute  between  (he  two  countries  will  be  amicably 
settled.  The  Mackerel  schooner  had  been  despatched  from 
New-York  by  Mr.  Foster,  direct  to  Falmouth,  the  day  before  the 
pilot  boat  sailed.  When  the  senate  came  to  the  resolution  of 
declaring  war,  the  account  of  Mr.  Perceval's  death  had  not 
reached  Washington,  but  was  known  at  New- York."  Thus 
a  new  falsehood  is  to  be  set  on  foot.  We  are  now  to  believe 
that  the  declaration  of  war  is  to  have  no  effect.  Till  now  it  has 
been  asserted,  distinctly  asserted,  that  the  senate  had  rejected  (he 
proposition  for  war.  This,  as  the  reader  well  knows,  has  been  sta- 
ted most  distinctly,  with  all  the  circumstances  attending  the  fact. 
It  was  not  only  asserted  that  the  senate  bad  rejected  the  pro- 
position, but  the  number  of  the  majority  against  the  motion  was 
given  to  this  deceived,  this  cheated,  this  insulted  nation.  In 
the  Courier  newspaper  of  the  17th  inst.  was  published  the 
following  paragraph : 

"  We  stop  the  press  to  state,  that  we  have  just  learned,  that  on 
a  motion  made  in  the  house  of  representatives  for  declaring 
war  against  Great  Britain,  the  question  was  carried  by  a  large 
majority  ;  but,  on  being  brought  up  to  the  senate,  it  wa?  rejected 
by  a  majority  of  two."  This  was  published  on  the  1 9th  of  July, 
and  on  the  '20th  the  above  letter  from  Liverpool.  Now,  upon 
what  authority  was  the  first  statement  made  7.  Clearly  upon  no 
authority  at  all.  It  was  a  falsehood  ;  a  falsehood  intended  to 
deceive  the  people  of  England  ;  a  falsehood  intended  to  answer 
most  base,  and  yet  most  foolish  purposes  ;  for,  on  the  20th,  out 
comes  the  truth  by  sheer  force.  I  have  heard  a  genlleman  say 
that  he  verily  believed,  that  if  the  French  wer^  at  Dover, 
half  a  million  strong,  these  same  newspapers  v/ould  represent 
Napoleon  as  at  the  last  gasp.  I  hardly  believe  that ;  tor,  by 


70  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

1he  time  he  was  safely  landed,  (hey  would  be  considering  of  the 
means  of  going  over  to  his  side,  and  would,  in  their  own  minds, 
be  settling  as  to  their  price.  But,  short  of  a  crisis  like  that, 
there  is  nothing  that  will  induce  them  to  desist  from  perseve- 
ring in  falsehood  to  the  very  moment  of  detection :  to  the 
very  moment  !  They  know  well,  that  a  few  weeks,  days,  or 
fiours,  must  expose  their  falsehoods  to  the  public  ;  but  they 
know,  also,  that  for  those  weeks,  days,  or  hours,  the  falsehoods 
answer  their  purposes.  And  when  one  falsehood  is  worn  out, 
they  have  another.  Thus  it  is  that  this  nation  is  deceived  ;  H 
?s  thus  that  it  is  more  deceived  than  any  othar  nation  upon 
«arth  ;  and  that,  at  last,  when  a  calamity  conies  upon  it,  it 
seems  to  be  thunderstruck  at  what  all  the  rest  of  the  world 
clearly  foresaw.  It  is  thus,  too,  more  than  by  any  other 
means,  that  the  .country  has  been  brought  into  its  present  hum- 
fried  and  distressed  state.  The  people  have  always  been  be- 
lieving pretty  neatly  the  contrary  of  the  truth  while  the  event 
was  coming.  The  result  has,  in  almost  every  case,  been  pre- 
cisely the  opposite  of  what  was  expected  ;  and  the  world  have 
thought  the  people  of  England  mad  for  their  silly  expectations  ; 
but  if  the  world  knew  the  means  that  are  used  to  make  the 
people  of  England  believe  falsehoods  instead  of  truth  ;  if  the 
world  knew  that  the  people  of  England,  during  the  progress  of 
any  expedition,  or  other  warlike  undertaking,  for  instance,  hear 
•nothing  but  falsehoods  respecting  it,  the  world  would  not  be  sur- 
prised at  the  disappointment  of  the  people  of  England  at  the 
result.  These  observations  apply  with  peculiar  force  to  the 
dispute  with  America,  who  has  been  represented  to  (he  people 
of  England  as  being,  even  now,  wholly  incapable  of  going  to  war, 
and  whose  government  has  been  represented  as  acting  contrary 
to  the  sense  of  the  people  in  all  its  acts  of  resistance  against 
England.  Now,  however,  we  are  at  war,  if  the  above  news  be 
true  ;  and  even  now  new  falsehoods  are  attempted  to  be  palmed 
vipon  us.  But  does  (he  reader  not  perceive,  that  if  America 
lias  declared  war,  she  is  at  war  ?  And  that  if  she  is  at  war, 
there  must  be  a  treaty  before  there  can  be  a  peace  ?  To  make 
a  treaty  of  peace  will  require  some  months,  at  any  rate  ; 
and  does  the  reader  suppose  that  the  Americans,  after  the  ex- 
pense of  arming  has  been  encountered,  will  disarm  fill  she  has 
obtained  satisfaction  upon  all  the  points  at  issue  ?  The  ac(s  of 
aggression  (as  she  considers  them)  on  our  part  are  many  ;  and 
does  the  reader  suppose  that  the  mere  news  of  (he  repeal  of 
the  orders  in  council  will  satisfy  her  ?  Besides,  if  (here  were 
no  cause  of  disagreement  but  that  of  the  orders  in  council., 
does  ndt  (he  reader  perceive  (hat  the  repeal  has  not  been  full, 
and  complete,  and  unqualified  ;  and  (hat if  it  were  so,  America 
cannot  be  expected  to  disarm  without  some  sort  of  oompees*- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  71 

(ion  ?  What !  is  our  government  to  commit  upon  the  Ameri- 
cans whatever  acts  of  aggression  it  pleases ;  and,  after  that, 
when  America  arms,  and  declares  war,  are  we  to  suppose,  that 
to  effect  an  instant  peace,  we  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  put  a 
stop  to  our  aggressions  ?  I  do  not  take  upon  me  to  assert  that 
they  are  aggressions  ;  but  supposing  them  to  be  such,  as  I  realljr 
think  thej  are,  does  the  reader  suppose  that  our  government 
possesses  a  license  to  commit  acts  of  aggression,  and  to  put  for- 
ward its  mere  cessation  of  them  as  a  ground  for  peace  with  the 
offended  party  ?  This  is  uot  the  way  with  our  government, 
either  abroad  or  at  home. 

It  is  always  talking  of  "  indemnity  for  the  past,  and  security 
for  the  future;"  and  why  are  we  to  suppose  that  the  American 
government  will  not  talk  in  the  same  way  ?  If  a  man  offend 
our  government,  does  it  say  "  cease  toodend  us,  and  there  is  an 
end  of  the  matter  !"  No:  this  is  not  the  language  it  is  now  mak- 
kig  use  of  to  the  people  in  the  Luddiie  counties.  It  punishes 
them,  when  it  can  catch  them  :  and  shall  it  lay  down  as  a  maxim, 
that  it  is  never  to  be  made  responsible  for  what  it  does !  The 
reader  may  be  assured  thafrjhe  Americans  do  not  consider  it  as 
exempted  from  the  usual  laws  and  principles  by  which  nations 
regulate  their  conduct  towards  each  other :  and  he  may  be  fur- 
ther assured,  that  the  inquiries  relative  to  the  state  of  our  ma- 
nufacturers will  not,  when  read  in  America,  tend  to  lower  her 
tone.  She  is  now  armed  ;  she  has  got  over  her  great  reluctance 
to  enlist  soldiers  and  to  fit  out  armed  vessels  ;  and  she  will  neven: 
lay  down  her  arms,  that  is  to  say,  she  will  never  make  peace  with 
us,  until  we  agree  to  make  her  ample  compensation  for  her  losses 
and  injuries  under  the  orders  in  council,  and  also  agree  to  desist 
from  impressing  any  persons  on  board  her  ships  at  sea.  Are  we 
prepared  for  this  ?  Are  the  associates  of  Perceval  ready  to  give 
up  these  points  ?  Are  they  ready  to  pay  for  what  has  been 
captured  under  regulations  which  the  Americans  regard  as  a 
violation  of  their  rights ;  and  are  they  ready  to  make  it  a  crime 
in  any  English  officer  to  seize  seamen  on  board  American  ships 
at  sea?  If  they  are,  we  shall  certainly  soon  be  at  peace  with 
America;  if  they  are  not,  my  opinion  is,  we  shall  have  war  with 
her  till  these  points  are  given  up.  The  close  of  the  pretended 
letter  from  Liverpool  is  curious.  It  observes,  that  "  when 
the  senate  came  to  a  resolution  of  declaring  war,  the  account  of 
Mr.  Perceval's  death  had  not  reached  Washington.'5  As  mucii 
as  to  say,  if  the  news  of  his  death  had  reached  Washington,  war 
might  not  have  been  declared  !  And  this  is  the  way  in  which  the 
friends  of  the  little  dead  lawyer  speak  of  him,  is  it !  They  leave 
us  clearly  to  infer,  that  the  nsws  of  his  death,  the  bare  news  of 
his  death,  might  have  prevented  a  war  with  America!  And  yet 
have  these  same  writers  the  impudence  to  call  the  people  of 


72  Letters  of  William  Cobbell,  Esq. 

Nottingham  and  other  places,  monsters,  because  they  expressed 
their  joy  upon  receiving  the  same  news  !  In  conclusion.  I  beg 
the  reader  to  bear  in  mind  that  1  have  been  nearly  two  years 
endeavouring  to  prevent  a  war  with  America ;  that  very  soon 
after  I  was  sentenced  to  be  imprisoned  two  years  in  Newgate, 
and  to  pay  a  thousand  pounds  to  the  king,  for  writing  about  the 
flogging  of  English  local  militia  men  at  the  town  of  Ely,  and 
about  the  employing  of  German  troops  upon  that  occasion;  I 
beg  the  reader  to  bear  in  mind,  that,  very  soon  after  that  impri- 
sonment commenced,  I  began  my  most  earnest  endeavours  to 
prevent  this  war,  the  most  fatal  I  fear  of  all  the  many  wars  in 
which  we  have  been  engaged,  since  the  present  king  mounted 
the  throne.  I  was  enabled  to  tell  pretty  exactly  what  would 
come  to  pass,  unless  we  redressed  the  grievances  of  America 
without  delay.  I  had  letters  from  America,  written  by  persona 
of  a  little  more  understanding  than  appears  to  be  possessed  by 
those  from  whom  our  lawyers  get  their  information.  I  did  not 
know  to  what  extent  the  merchants  of  America  might  submit 
to  have  their  property  seized ;  but  I  was  well  assured,  that  the 
American  people  would  no  longer  sniffer  their  seamen  to  be  im- 
pressed upon  the  open  sea.  This  I  was  positively  told  nearly 
two  years  ago ;  and  I  am  now  particularly  anxious  to  impress 
it  upon  the  minds  of  the  ministers;  for  they  may  be  assured, 
that  the  American  government,  if  it  has  actually  declared  war, 
will  never  make  peace  till  that  point  is  settled  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  American  people ;  till,  in  short,  we  agree  to  desist  wholly 
from  taking  any  person  whatever  out  of  an  American  ship  at 
sea.  I  am  aware  how  stinging  it  will  be  to  some  persons  in 
England  to  yield  one  jot  to  America.  I  am  aware  how  much 
more  they  hate  her  government  than  they  hate  that  of  France. 
I  am  aware  how  glad  they  would  be  to  hear  of  the  United  States 
being  swallowed  up  by  an  earthquake*  Not  so,  however,  the 
people  of  England  generally,  who  do  not  grudge  any  thing  that 
is  yielded  to  America  so  much  as  they  do  what  is  yielded  to 
other  powers.  They  do  not,  besides,  see  Arery  clearly  the 
advantage  they  are  to  derive  from  the  keeping  down  of  the 
Americans  by  the  means  of  the  English  navy.  They  do  not 
see  the  benefit  that  is  likely  to  accrue  to  them  from  any  thing, 
the  tendency  of  which  is  to  press  upon  a  free  people  in  another 
country.  Nothing,  I  am  convinced,  will  ever  make  an  Ameri- 
can war  popular  in  England. 

"\Y 

Botley,  J;i!y  23J,  1812. 


-Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  73 


TO  THE  PRINCE  REGENT. 

Sir, 

IF  I  have  now  to  refer  to  the  proofs  of  the  correctness  of 
those  opinions  which  I  addressed  to  your  Royal  Highness  many 
months  past,  upon  the  subject  of  the  dispute  with  America,  I 
beg  you  to  be  assured,  that  [  do  it  not  in  the  way  of  triumph, 
but  in  the  hope,  that  even  yet  my  advice,  most  respectfully 
offered  to  your  Royal  Highness,  may  have  some  weight  with 
you,  and  may,  in  some  small  degree,  tend  to  avert  that  last 
of  national  evils,  a  war  with  America,  a  war  against  the  chil- 
dren of  Englishmen,  a  war  against  the  seat  of  political  and  re- 
ligious freedom. 

In  rny  former  letters  I  took  great  pains  to  endeavour  to  in- 
duce  your  Royal  Highness  to  distrust  the  statements  in  our 
public  prints  as  to  the  power  of  the  English  party  in  the  Ame- 
rican stales.  I  assured  you,  that  the  venal  press  in  England 
was  engaged  in  promulgating  a  series  of  deceptions  with  regard 
to  the  opinions  of  the  people  of  America.  I  took  the  liberty 
to  point  out  to  your  Royal  Highness  the  mischiefs  which  must 
result  from  listening  to  the  advice  of  those  whose  language  might 
correspond  wifh  that  of  this  press ;  and,  in  short,  I  showed, 
that  if  the  endeavours  of  that  pernicious,  partial,  and  corrupt 
press  had  their  intended  effect,  war  with  America  must  be  the 
consequence.  By  this  press  (the  vilest  instrument  of  the  vilest 
corruption  that  ever  existed  in  the  whole  world)  the  people  of 
England  were  induced  to  approve  of  the  measures  which  have 
now  produced  a  war  with  America  ;  or,  at  least,  they  were  in- 
duced to  wink  at  them.  They  were  made  to  believe,  that  our 
measures  of  hostility  against  America  were  useful  to  us,  and 
that  the  American  government  had  not  the  power  to  resent  them 
by  war.  The  same,  I  doubt  not,  was  told  to  your  Royal 
Highness  verbally  ;  but  how  wretchedly  have  the  nation  and 
you  been  deceived ! 

The  state  of  affairs  between  the  two  countries  now  stands 
thus :  There  exists  a  dispute  on  the  subject  of  our  Orders 
in  Council,  on  that  of  the  Impressment  of  American  seamen, 
and  on  the  possession  of  the  Florid:ts.  There  are  some  other 
matters  of  inferior  importance,  but  they  would  admit  of  easy 
arrangement.  With  regard  to  the  Orders  in  Council,  your 
Royal  Highness  was  advised  to  issue,  on  the  2 1st  of  April 
last,  a  declaration,  stating  that  you  would  not  repeal  the  Or- 
ders in  Council  until  France,  officially  and  unconditionally,  by 
some  public  promulgation,  repealed  her  Berlin  and  Milan  De- 
crees. France,  so  far  from  doing  this,  has,  in  the  most  public 

10 


T4  Letters  of  William  Gobbett,  Esq. 

and  solemn  manner,  declared,  that  she  will  never  do  what  your 
declaration  required,  though,  at  the  same  time,  she  has  re- 
peated (and  she  has  done  no  more)  what  she  had  said  to  the 
American  government  in  1810,  and  what  was  then  communi- 
cated to  our  government  by  the  American  minister  in  London. 
Nevertheless,  you  were  afterwards  advised  to  repeal  the 
Orders  in  Council,  though  the  conditions  of  the  declaration 
before  issued  were  not  at  all  satisfied,  but  were,  in  fact,  set  at 
open  defiance. 

This  repeal,  which  took  place  on  the  23d  of  June  last,  was, 
however,  too  late  in  its  adoption  to  prevent  war.  The  Ameri- 
can government,  who  had  been  making  their  preparations  for 
many  months,  and  which  preparations  had  been  the  subject  of 
mockery  with  the  venal  press  in  England,  declared  war  on  the 
18th  of  June  last.  The  intelligence  of  this  having  been  re- 
ceived in  England,  your  Royal  Highness  was  advised  to  issue, 
on  the  31st  of  July,  an  Order  in  Council  for  an  embargo  on  all 
American  vessels  in  our  ports,  and  also  for  capturing  and  de- 
taining all  American  vessels  at  sea. 

This  is  the  state  of  affairs  between  the  two  countries  ;  and  the 
main  question  now  appears  to  be,  whether,  when  the  American 
government  hears  of  our  repeal  of  the  Orders  in  Council,  they 
will  revoke  their  declaration  of  war.  This  is  a  question  of 
great  interest  at  this  moment ;  and  I  shall,  therefore,  proceed 
to  lay  before  your  Royal  Highness  my  sentiments  with  respect 
to  it. 

The  same  sort  of  infatuation  that  has  prevailed  here,  with 
regard  to  American  affairs,  for  many  months  past,  appears  still 
to  prevail.  Indeed,  sir,  1  can  call  it  no  other  than  insolence  ; 
an  insolent  contempt  of  the  Americans,  taught  by  those  who 
hate  them,  and  who  would  if  they  could,  kill  them  to  the  last 
man,  in  revenge  for  their  hav  ing  established  a  free  government, 
where  there  are  neither  sinecures,  jobs,  or  selling  of  seats.  This 
insolence  has  induced  people  to  talk  of  America  as  a  country 
incapable  of  resenting  any  thing  that  we  might  do  to  her ;  as 
being  a  wretched  state,  unsupported  by  any  thing  like  vigour  in 
government ;  as  a  sort  of  horde  of  half  savages,  with  whom  we 
might  do  what  we  pleased  ;  and,  to  the  very  last  minute,  the 
great  mass  of  the  people  here,  ninety-nine  out  of  every  hun- 
dred, firmly  believed,  that  America  mould  never  go  to  mar  with 
us.  They  left  provocation  quite  out  of  the  question.  They 
appeared  to  have  got  into  their  heads  a  conclusion,  (hat  let  us 
do  what  we  would  to  America,  she  would  not  go  to  war  with  us. 

This  way  of  thinking  has  pervaded  the  whole  of  the  wri- 
tings upon  tiie  subject  of  the  dispute  with  America.  At  every 
r«l;  'ift  in  (he  progress  towards  war,  the  corrupt  press  has  assert* 
£ri?  tfaat  America  knew  belter  than  to  go  to  war  wilh  us.  Wh.ea 


Liters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  T3 

she  went  so  far  as  to  pass  acts  for  raising  an  army  and  equipping 
a  fleet,  and  that,  too,  with  the  avowed  intention  of  making  war 
against  us;  still  the  hirelings  told  the  people,  that  she  dared  not 
go  to  war,  and  that  she  only  meant  to  bully.  I  could  fill  a  large 
volume  with  assertions  from  the  Times  newspaper  alone  that  me 
should  not  yield  a  tittle,  and  that  America  would  not  dare  to 
go  to  mar.  But  the  fact  is  too  notorious  to  dwell  upon.  There 
is  no  man,  and  especially  your  Royal  Highness,  who  can  have 
failed  to  observe  the  constant  repetition  of  these  assertions. 

At  last,  however,  America  has  dared  to  go  to  war,  even 
against  that  great  warrior  George  the  Third,  nearly  three-fifths 
of  whose  reign  has  been  occupied  in  wars,  exclusive  of  the 
wars  in  India.  He  has  been  not  only  the  greatest  warrior,  but 
the  greatest  conqueror,  of  any  European  prince  that  ever  lived. 
Napoleon  is  nothing  to  him  as  a  conqueror ;  and  yet  the  Ame- 
ricans have  dared  to  declare  war  against  him.  But,  even  now, 
now  that  she  has  actually  declared  war,  and  that,  too,  by  an  act  of 
congress,  by  a  law  passed  by  real  representatives  of  the  people ; 
by  men  elected  by  the  free  voice  of  the  nation;  by  an  unbri- 
bed,  unbought,  unsold,  unenslaved  assembly,  not  by  a  set  of 
corrupt  knaves  whom  the  president  can  at  any  time  twist  about 
by  means  of  the  people's  money  ;  even  now,  when  she  has  de- 
clared war  in  this  solemn  manner,  the  hireling  newspapers  in 
London  would  fain  make  us  believe,  that  the  whole  thing  is  a 
mere  make-belief,  that  it  is  a  mere  feint,  and  "  will  end  in 
smoke."  At  the  least,  they  tell  us,  that  when  the  news  of  the 
repeal  of  our  Orders  in  Council  reaches  America,  there  must 
be  a  revocation  of  the  declaration  of  war.  They  seem  to  for- 
getj  that  the  declaration  of  war  in  America  is  an  act  of  congress, 
and  to  do  away  the  effect  of  that  act,  another  act  must  pass. 
They  seem  to  forget  that  it  is  the  people  who  have  declared 
war,  and  that  the  people  must  be  consulted  before  that  decla- 
ration can  be  annulled  or  revoked.  But,  sir,  the  fact  is,  that 
these  writers  talk  miserable  nonsense.  We  are  at  war  with  Ame- 
rica ;  and,  before  we  can  have  peace  with  her  again,  we  must 
have  a  treaty  of  peace. 

But  the  main  question  for  rational  men  to  discuss  is  :  "  will 
the  repeal  of  our  Orders  in  Council  be  sufficient  to  induce  Ame- 
rica to  make  peace  with  us,  without  including  the  redress  of  her 
other  grievances  ?"  This  is  the  question  that  we  have  to  dis- 
cuss ;  it  is  a  question  in  which  hundreds  of  thousands  are  imrne- 
dtxtely  interested ;  and  it  is  a  question  which  I  think  may  be 
answered  in  the  negative  ;  that  is  to  say,  sir,  I  give  it  as  my 
opinion,  that  the  repeal  of  our  Orders  in  Council  will  not  be  suf- 
ficient to  restore  us  to  a  state  of  peace  with  America  ;  and  I  now 
proceed  respectfully  to  submit  to  your  Royal  Highness  the  rea- 
sons upon  which  this  opinion  is  founded. 

In  my  last   letter  I  had  the  honour  to    stale  to  your  Royal 


V6  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

Highness,  that  there  was  another  great  point  with  America ; 
namely,  the  Impressment  of  American  seamen,  which  must  be 
adjusted  before  harmony  could  be  restored  between  the  two 
countries  ;  and,  as  you  must  have  perceived,  this  subject  of 
complaint  stands  at  the  head  of  Mr.  Madison's  statement  of  the 
grounds  of  war ;  it  stands  at  the  head  of  his  manifesto  against 
our  government.  His  own  words  will  best  speak  this  mean- 
ing: 

"  Without  going  beyond  the  renewal,  in  1803,  of  the  war  in 
which  Great  Britain  is  engaged,  and  omitting  unrepaired  wrongs 
of  inferior  magnitude,  the  conduct  of  her  government  presents 
a  series  of  acts  hostile  to  the  United  States  as  an  independent 
and  neutral  nation.  British  cruisers  have  been  in  the  continu- 
ed practice  of  violating  the  American  flag  on  the  great  highway 
of  nations,  and  of  seizing  and  carrying  off  persons  sailing  under 
it ;  not  in  the  exercise  of  a  belligerent  right,  founded  on  the  law 
of  nations  against  an  enemy,  but  of  a  municipal  prerogative  over 
British  subjects.  British  jurisdiction  is  thus  extended  to  neu- 
tral vessels  in  a  situation  where  no  laws  can  operate  but  the  law 
of  nations,  and  the  laws  of  the  country  to  which  the  vessels  be- 
long ;  and  a  self-redress  is  assumed,  which  if  the  British  subjects 
were  wrongfully  detained,  and  alone  concerned,  is  that  substitu- 
tion of  force  for  a  resort  to  the  responsible  sovereign,  which 
falls  within  the  definition  of  war.  Could  the  seizure  of  British 
subjects,  in  such  cases,  be  regarded  as  within  the  exercise  of  a 
belligerent  right,  the  acknowledged  laws  of  war,  which  forbid  an 
article  of  captured  property  to  be  adjudged  without  a  regular 
investigation  before  a  competent  tribunal,  would  imperiously 
demand  the  fairest  trial,  where  the  sacred  rights  of  persons 
were  at  issue.  In  place  of  such  trial,  these  rights  are  subject- 
ed to  the  will  of  every  petty  commander.  The  practice,  hence, 
is  so  far  from  affecting  British  subjects  alone,  that,  under  the 
pretext  of  searching  for  these,  thousands  of  American  citizens, 
under  the  safeguard  of  public  laws,  and  of  their  national  flag, 
have  been  torn  from  their  country,  and  from  every  thing  dear 
to  them — have  been  dragged  on  board  ships  of  war  of  a  foreign 
nation,  and  exposed  under  the  severities  of  their  discipline,  to 
be  exiled  to  the  most  distant  and  deadly  climes,  to  risk  their 
lives  in  the  battles  of  their  oppressors,  and  to  be  the  melancholy 
instruments  of  taking  away  those  of  their  own  brethren.  Against 
this  crying  enormity,  which  Great  Britain  would  be  so  prompt 
to  avenge  if  committed  against  herself,  the  United  States  have 
in  vain  exhausted  remonstrances  and  expostulations:  and  that 
no  proof  might  be  wanting  of  their  conciliatory  dispositions, 
and  no  pretext  left  for  a  continuance  of  the  practice,  the  British 
government  was  formally  assured  of  the  readiness  of  the  United 
States  to  enter  into  arrangements,  such  as  could  not  be  rejected. 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  77 

if  the  recovery  of  the  British  subjects  were  the  real  and  the 
sole  object.     The  communication  passed  without  effect." 

The  grievance  here  complained  of  is  certainly  very  great, 
and  cannot  be  expected  to  be  borne  by  any  nation  capable  of 
resistance.  If  England  were  at  peace,  and  America  at  war,  and 
the  latter  were  to  assume  the  right  of  stopping  our  merchant 
vessels  at  sea,  and  taking  out  of  them,  by  force,  any  men  whom 
her  officers  might  choose  to  consider  as  Americans,  what  should 
me  say  to  the  assumption  ?  And  would  not  your  Royal  High- 
ness be  ashamed  to  exercise  the  royal  authority  without  the 
power  instantly  to  punish  such  an  affront  to  the  dignity  of  the 
crown  and  the  honour  of  the  country  ?  But  degrading  as  this 
impressment  is  to  the  national  character  of  the  Americans,  it 
cuts  them  still  deeper  by  the  real  sufferings  that  it  inflicts  ;  by 
the  ruin  which  it  occasions  to  thousands  of  families;  and  by 
the  deaths  which  it  produces  in  the  course  of  every  year.  I 
have  before  stated  that  the  number  of  impressed  American  sea- 
men is  very  great,  or  at  least  has  so  been  stated  in  America, 
amounting  to  many  thousands,  constantly  in  a  state  of  the  most 
terrible  bondage  to  them  ;  and,  as  some  are  daily  dropping  off, 
while  others  are  impressed,  the  extent  to  which  the  evil  has 
been  felt  in  America  must  have  been  very  great  indeed,  during 
so  long  a  war. 

Our  corrupt  newspapers,  with  the  Times  at  their  head,  are 
endeavouring  to  misrepresent  the  nature  of  the  complaint  of 
America,  and  thereby  to  provide  the  ministers  beforehand  with 
a  justification  for  war  rather  than  afford  her  redress.  Upon 
the  part  of  the  President's  manifesto  above  quoted,  the  Times 
makes  these  observations  : 

"  She  first  complains  of  our  impressing  British  seamen  when 
found  on  board  American  vessels  ;  but  this  is  a  right  which 
we  now  exercise  under  peculiar  modifications  and  restrictions. 
We  do  not  attempt  to  search  ships  of  war,  however  inferior 
their  force  to  ours:  and  as  to  searching  merchantmen,  we  do 
not  even  do  this,  vaguely  or  indiscriminately  ;  but  upon  posi- 
tive and  accurate  information.  And  practically,  we  appre- 
hend, that  the  criminal  concealment  on  the  part  of  America, 
is  a  much  greater  nuisance  to  us,  than  a  wanton  search  on  our 
part  is  to  her.  Let  her,  however,  propose  '  such  arrange- 
ments' on  this  head  as  are  calculated  to  effect  the  recovery 
of  British  subjects,  and  she  will  find  Great  Britain  far  from 
averse  to  listen  to  her." 

This,  sir,  is  a  tissue  of  falsehoods  and  misrepresentations. 
The  President  does  not  complain  that  we  impress  British  sea- 
men ;  he  complains  that,  under  pretr nee  of  taking  British  sea- 
men, we  take  American  seamen.  This  is  what  he  complains 
of,  which  is  precisely  the  contrary  of  what  is  here  stated.  As 


78  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

to  not  taking  men  out  of  American  ships  of  war,  our  govern- 
ment knows  well,  that  America  has  no  ships  of  war  worth  speak- 
ing of,  and  that  she  has  thousands  of  merchant  ships.  It  is* 
said  here,  we  do  not  search  American  merchantmen  "  vaguely 
and  indiscriminately  ;  but  upon  positive  and  accurate  informa- 
tion." One  would  suppose  it  impossible  for  any  man,  capable 
of  writing  a  paragraph,  to  sit  down  coolly  and  state  so  perfect 
a  falsehood  as  this.  But  herein  we  have  an  instance  of  the 
length  to  which  Ihe  hirelings  of  the  English  press  will  go  in 
supporting  any  thing  which  they  are  called  on  to  support.  It. 
is  a  fact,  and  this  writer  knew  it  to  be  a  fact,  that  any  com- 
mander of  any  ship  in  our  navy,  when  he  meets  an  American 
merchantman  at  sea,  does,  or  may,  go  or  send  on  board  of  her, 
and  he  (Joes,  or  may,  take  out  of  her  any  persons,  who,  IN  HIS 
OPINION,  are  Briiish  subjects.  That  this  is  a  fact  no  one  can 
deny  :  where  then  is  the  "positive  and  accurate  information  ?" 
It  is  also  a  fact,  that  the  Americans  have  frequenlly  asserted, 
that  our  officers  have  thus  taken  out  of  their  ships  at  sea  mariy 
fhousands  of  American  cilizens,  under  the  pretence  of  their 
being  Briiish  subjects.  It  is  also  a  fact,  which  is  proved  by 
the  books  at  our  own  admiralty,  that  the  American  government, 
through  its  consul  in  London,  has  obtained  the  release  from  our 
fleet,  of  a  great  number  of  American  citizens  thus  impressed, 
seized,  and  carried  off  upon  the  high  seas.  It  is  also  a  fact, 
proved  by  the  same  authority,  that  many  of  the  Americans, 
thus  taken,  have  lost  their  limbs  in  the  compulsory  service  of 
England,  a  service  which  they  abhorred.  It  is  a  fact  that  1 
take  upon  me  to  vouch  for,  lhat  amongst  the  American  citi- 
zens thus  captured  and  carried  ofF,  and  forced  into  our  service 
of  late  years,  were  two  grand  nephews  of  General  Washing- 
ton,* and  that  one  of  the  two  was  released  from  our  service  by 
the  Lords  of  the  Admiralty,  in  consequence  of  an  application 
from  the  American  consul,  while  I  was  in  prison  for  writing 
about  the  flogging  of  Ihe  local  militia  in  the  town  of  Ely,  and 
about  the  employment  of  German  troops  upon  the  occasion. 

And  yet,  sir,  in  the  face  of  all  these  facts,  has  the  hired 
writer  the  audacity,  the  cool  impudence,  to  assert,  that  we  ne- 
ver search  American  vessels  for  seamen,  u  but  upon  po- 
sitive and  accurate  information."  With  this  instance  of  false- 
hood— of  wilful,  shameless  falsehood,  before  them,  one  would 
imagine,  that  the  public  would  never  after  be  in  danger  of  being 
deceived  by  the  same  \vriter  ;  but,  alas  !  sir,  the  cunning  slave, 
who  sells  his  pen  for  this  purpose,  knows  well  that  the  public, 

*  John  and  diaries  Lewi? ;  Jrhn  was  discharged  in  February,  li!12,  after  three 
applications ;  was  very  badly  nsrd  during  (frteBtitin ;  deserted  twice,  and  (logged 
twice.  Charles  was  also  applied  for  thrcr  times,  and  was  discharged  in  Decem- 
ber, 1811.  It  was  alleged  in  the  first  cnrr;  th.t  he  was  a  native  of  Quebec,  and  ia. 
the  other  that  be  had  volnntoriJy  catered. 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 


, 


er,  at  least,  that  that  part  of  Ihe  public  whom  he  wishes  to  de- 
ceive, will  never,  till  it  be  too  late,  be  able  to  detect  him  ;  he 
knows  that  his  falsehood  goes  where  the  exposure  seldom 
comes,  and  if  it  come  at  all,  he  knows  that  its  arrival-  will  be 
too  late  to  prevent  the  effect  to  produce  which  is  his  object. 

He  next  calls  upon  America  to  propose  her  arrangement 
upon  this  subject  ;  though  in  the  very  manifesto,  upon  which 
he  is  commenting,  the  president  declares  that  an  offer  had  been 
made  to  our  government  to  enter  into  an  arrangement,  but  that 
"  the  communicaf  ion  passed  without  effect."  It  is  going  very 
far  on  the  part  of  America  to  offer  to  enter  into  any  arrange- 
ment upon  the  subject;  for  why  should  not  she  say,  as  we  cer- 
tainly should  say  ;  "  Take  care  of  your  own  seamen  ;  keep 
them  from  us  in  any  way  that  you  please  ;  but  you  shall,  on  the 
seas,  take  nobody  out  of  our  vessels."  Nevertheless,  she  has 
offered  to  enter  into  arrangements,  "  such,"  she  says,  "  as  could 
not  be  rejected,  if  the.  "  recovery  of  British  seamen  was  the 
sole  object  ;"  and  yet  this  writer  accuses  her  of  the  criminal 
concealment  of  our  seamen  !  We  have  rejected  this  offer  of  an 
arrangement  for  the  prevention  of  British  seamen  from  taking 
shelter  in  American  ships  ;  and  yet  this  writer  accuses  Ameri- 
ca of  a  desire  to  injure  us  by  making  her  ships  an  asylum  for 
British  deserters  ! 

Our  government  say,  that  if  we  do  not  exercise  our  power 

of  searching  American  ships,  and  taking  out.  our  own  seamen, 

our  sea  service  will  be  ruined  by  the  desertions  to  those  Ame- 

rican ships.     For  instance,  a  British  ship  of  war  is  lying  at  Ply- 

mouth, and  there  are  three  or  four  American  vessels  in  the 

same  port.     Numbers  of  the  seamen  get  on  board  the  Ameri- 

can ships  ;  they  get  out  to  sea  ;  and,  if  they  cannot  be  seized 

there,  they  go  off  safely  to  America,  or  to  any  other  part  of  the 

world,  and  are  thus  lost  to  our  navy.     There  is  no  doubt,  sir, 

but  this  might  become  a  very  serious  evil,  if  not  counteracted* 

But  are  the  Americans  to  suffer  because  (for  whatever  reason) 

our  sailors  desert  ?  And,  above  all,  are  real  American  citizens  to 

be  exposed  to  impressment,  to  be  sent  to  be  shot  at,  to  be  con- 

veyed to  the  West  or  East  Indies,  to  be  made  to  end  their  days 

under  the  discipline  of  an  English  man  of  war  —  are  real  Ame- 

rican citizens  to  be  exposed  to  all  this  because  British  seamen 

desert,  and  because  that  desertion  (a  very  serious  crime)  m;ty 

become  extremely   dangerous  to  us  ?    I  arn  sure  your  Royal 

Highness  is  too  just  to  answer  this  question  in  the  affirmative. 

The  case  must  be  new,  because  the  relative  situation  of  the 
two  countries  is  a  novelty  in  the  history  of  nations;  but  while 
we  have  an  undoubted  right  to  recover  our  own  seamen,  if  we 
can  do  it  without  violating  the  rights  of  other  nations,  we  can 
have  no  right3  in  any  case,  to  seize  American  citizens.  Ameri- 


80  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  , 

ca  says,  "  I  do  not  want  your  seamen — I  would  rather  not  have 
them.  Keep  them  by  what  means  you  please.  Take'thern 
wherever  you  can  find  them  in  my  ships  :  but,  before  you  do  it, 
produce  proof  of  their  being  yours,  and  that,  too,  before  a 
competent  tribunal."  Nothing  can  be  fairer  than  this  ;  but  this 
necessarily  sets  aside  all  impressments  at  sea,  where  there  can 
be  no  proof  given,  because  there  can  be  no  tribunal,  or  umpire, 
to  decide  upon  the  proofs,  and  we  contend,  that,  without  the  pow- 
er of  impressing  at  sea,  our  navy  would  be  greatly  injured  by 
desertion,  and  our  strength  thereby  materially  weakened. 

This  is  the  point  upon  which  ne  are  at  issue  with  America — 
supposing  the  Orders  in  Council  to  remain  repealed,  and  the 
dispute  as  to  that  matter  to  be  settled — this  is  the  point  upon 
which,  if  not  settled  amicably,  we  shall  have  war  with  the  Ame- 
rican States.  It  is  the  point  upon  which  the  people  of  Ame- 
rica, who  are  something,  are  more  sore;  and  I  am  convinced 
that  it  is  a  point  which  they  will  not  give  up.  They  say,  and 
they  trnly  say,  that  it  is  a  mockery  for  them  to  talk  of  their 
freedom  and  their  independence,  if  the  very  bodies  of  their 
citizens  are  liable  to  be  taken  upon  the  high  seas  and  forced  into 
the  service  of  a  foreign  sovereign,  there  to  be  treated  according 
to  the  rules  and  regulations  of  that  sovereign.  A  people  sub- 
mitting to  this  cannot  be  called  free,  and  their  country  cannot 
be  called  independent.  Therefore,  when  the  time  comes  for 
entering  on  a  treaty  of  peace  with  America,  I  hope  your  Royal 
Highness  will  resist  all  advice  tending  to  a  pertinacious  adhe- 
rence to  the  exercise  of  the  power  of  impressment ;  for  while 
that  power  is  exercised  we  shall,  in  my  opinion,  never  have 
real  peace  with  A.nerica. 

The  other  point  in  dispute,  namely,  the  possession  of  the 
Floridas,  or,  at  least,  that  part  of  them  which  belongs  to  Spain, 
is  of  inferior  importance ;  but  I  am  of  opinion,  that  that  point 
will  not  be  easily  overcome,  unless  we  are  prepared  to  give  it 
up.  America  sees  the  possibility  of  Old  Spain  becoming  a 
mere  puppet  in  ihe  hands  of  England,  and  she  sees  the  almost 
eertainty  of  its  becoming  a  dependant  upon  either  England  or 
France :  and  she  wants  neither  France  nor  England  for  so  near 
a  neighbour.  She  has,  in  the  adventures  of  Captain  Henry, 
seen  the  danger  of  having  a  neighbour  on  her  northern  flank; 
and  the  Floridas  are  not  divided  by  immense  deserts  and  lakes 
as  Canada  is.  While  the  Floridas  were  held  by  the  sleepy  old 
government  of  Spain,  America  saw  little  danger ;  but  she  will 
not,  I  am  convinced,  suifer  either  England  or  France  to  be  mis- 
tress of  those  provinces. 

This  is  a  point,  therefore,  which,  in  my  opinion,  we  should  be 
forward  in  giving  up,  and  not  get  into  a  war  with  America  for 
tht  sake  of  Ferdinand,  as  we  are  continuing  the  war  with  France 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  81 

for  his  sake.  The  revolutions  going  on  in  South  America  it  is 
the  interest  of  the  United  States  to  encourage  and  assist  to  the 
utmost  of  their  power ;  and  I  should  advise  your  Royal  High- 
ness to  show  an  earnest  desire  to  avoid  interference  therein ; 
for  if,  upon  the  -ground  of  supporting  the  authority  of  Ferdinand, 
or  upon  any  other  ground,  you  show  a  disposition  to  take  part 
against  the  republicans  of  South  America,  that  alone  will  be 
sufficient  greatly  to  retard,  if  not  wholly  defeat,  all  attempts  at 
an  accommodation  with  America.  Nay,  sir,  to  speak  freely 
my  sentiments,  I  do  not  expect  peace  with  America  while  we 
have  an  army  in  Spain,  or,  at  least,  while  there  is  the  smallest 
chance  of  our  obtaining  a  settled  ascendency  in  that  kingdom  ; 
and  I  really  think  that  every  mile  of  progress  that  we  are  ma- 
king there  puts  peace  with  America  at  a  greater  distance.  We, 
in  this  country,  or  the  greater  part  of  us,  see  no  danger  in  the 
increase  of  any  power,  except  the  power  of  Napoleon,  whose 
territories  half  envelop  our  coast,  and  whose  armies  are  but  at  the 
distance  of  a  few  hours  sail.  Not  so  the  Americans.  They  see 
danger  in  the  increase  of  our  power,  ours  being  that  sort  of  pow- 
er by  which  they  are  most  annoyed.  If  they  had  their  choice  be- 
tween us  and  France,  for  a  neighbour  in  South  America,  they 
would  not  hesitate  a  moment  in  preferring  France — because  her 
power  is  not  of  that  sort  which  would  be  formidable  to  America. 
What  she  would  wish,  however,  is  to  see  South  America  inde- 
pendent of  Old  Spain,  and,  of  course,  of  the  masters  of  Old 
Spain ;  and  she  is  not  so  blind  as  not  to  perceive,  that  the  con- 
test in  Old  Spain  now  is,  who  shall  have  it  under  her  control, 
England  or  France. 

For  these  reasons  every  victory  that  we  gain  in  Spain  will  be 
an  additional  obstacle  to  peace  with  America,  unless  we  set  out 
by  a  frank  and  clear  declaration,  leaving  South  America  to  itself, 
and  the  Floridas  to  the  United  States. 

Before  I  conclude,  I  beg  leave  to  notice  that  part  of  the  speech, 
recently  delivered  by  your  Royal  Higbness's  order  to  the  two 
houses  of  parliament,  wherein  mention  is  made  of  the  dispute 
with  America.  The  part  I  allude  to  is  this :  "  His  Royal  High- 
ness has  commanded  us  to  assure  you,  that  he  views  with  most 
sincere  regret  the  hostile  measures  which  have  been  recently 
adopted  by  the  government  of  the  United  States  of  America  to- 
wards this  country.  His  Royal  Highness  is  nevertheless  willing 
to  hope,  that  the  accustomed  relations  of  peace  and  amity  may 
yet  be  restored  ;  but  if  his  expectations  in  this  respect  should  be 
disappointed,  by  the  conduct  of  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  or  by  their  perseverance  in  any  unwarrantable  pretensions, 
he  will  most  fully  rely  on  the  support  of  every  class  of  his  ma- 
jesty's subjects,  in  a  contest  in  which  the  honour  of  his  majesty's 
crown,  and  the  best  interests  of  his  dominions^  must  be  involved," 

11 


82  Ldlers  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

This  part  of  the  speech  has  been  thought,  with  reason,  to  augur 
war — for  I  am  not  aware  of  "  any  pretensions"  of  America  that 
she  will  not  "persevere"  in.  If  pretensions  to  be  put  forward^ 
to  be  now  originated,  had  been  spoken  of,  there  might  have  been 
more  room  for  doubt ;  but  in  speaking  of  pretensions  to  be  perse- 
vered in,  the  speech  necessarily  refers  to  pretensions  already 
put  forward  ;  and  I  repeat,  sir,  that  I  do  not  know  of  any  pre- 
tensions that  America  has  put  forward,  in  which  I  do  not  believe 
she  will  persevere,  to  do  which  the  conduct  of  your  Royal  High- 
ness's  ministers  is  eminently  calculated  to  give  her  encourage- 
ment. 

As  to  support  from  the  people  of  England,  in  a  war  against  Ame- 
rica, your  Royal  Highness  will  certainly  have  it,  if  the  grounds 
of  the  war  be  clearly  just  ;  but  it  would  be  very  difficult  for  your 
ministers  to  make  the  people  perceive,  or  believe,  that  the  im- 
pressment of  American  seamen,  any  where,  and  especially  in 
the  very  ships  of  America,  was  necessary  "  to  the  honour  of  his 
majesty's  crown,  and  involved  the  best  interests  of  his  domi- 
nions." The  people  have  now  seen  all  the  predictions  of  the 
hireling  prints,  with  regard  to  America,  falsified  ;  they  Save  been 
told  that  America  could  not  support  herself  for  a  year  without 
England,  and  they  have  seen  her  do  it  for  a  year  and  a  half,  and 
at  the  end  of  that  time  declare  war.  They  are  not  now  to  be 
persuaded  that  this  government  can  do  what  it  pleases  with 
America. 

It  has  been  stated,  with  an  air  of  triumph,  by  the  partisans  of 
your  ministers,  that  the  opposition  are  pledged  to  support  a  war 
against  America,  unless  she  is  satisfied  with  the  repeal  of  the 
Orders  in  Council*  But  the  people,  sir,  have  given  no  such 
pledge ;  the  manufacturers  have  given  no  such  pledge ;  and  the 
war  will  not  be  a  jot  the  more  popular  on  account  of  its  having 
the  support  of  that  set  of  men  who  are  called  the  opposition,  and 
for  whom  the  people  have  no  respect,  any  more  than  they  have 
for  their  opponents.  The  Orders  in  Council  were  a  grievance  to 
America,  but  not  a  greater  grievance  than  to  see  her  citizens 
dragged  by  force  into  a  service  which  they  abhor,  on  so  many 
accounts,  however  pleasant  and  honourable  it  may  be  to  our  own 
countrymen.  This  grievance  was  known  to  exist ;  and,  there- 
fore, if  the  opposition  have  given  a  pledge  to  support  a  war  against 
America,  unless  she  be  satisfied  with  the  repeal  of  the  Orders  in 
Council  alone,  they  have  given  a  pledge  to  do  that  in  which  they 
will  not  have  the  support  of  the  people. 

I  am  one  of  those,  sir,  who  do  not  regard  a  great  extension  of 
trade  as  a  benefit ;  but  those  who  do  must?  lay  their  account  with 
seeing  much  of  our  trade  destroyed  for  ever  by  a  war  with  Ame- 
rica. Three  or  four  years  of  war  would  compel  her  to  become  a 
manufactoring  country  to  such  an  extent  as  never  more  to 


Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  E&q.  $3 

in  need  of  English  goods  ;  so  that,  if  your  Royal  Highneaa'a  mi- 
nisters do  insist  upon  exercising  the  power  of  seizing  people  on 
board  of  American  ships  at  sea,  those  persons  who  manufacture 
goods  for  America  musUseek  another  market,  for  that  is  closed 
against  them  for  ever. 

For  many  years,  sir,  there  has  existed  in  this  country,  a  fac- 
tion perfectly  desperate  in  their  HATRED  OF  FREEDOM.  They 
not  only  hate  all  free  nations,  but  they  hate  the  very  sound  of 
the  word  freedom.  I  am  well  satisfied  that  persons  of  this  de- 
scription would  gladly  hear  of  the  murder  of  every  soul  in  Ame- 
•rica.  There  is  nothiag  that  they  hate  so  much  as  a  man  who  is 
not  a  slave,  and  who  lives  out  of  the  reach  of  arbitrary  power. 
These  persons  will  be  sorely  grieved  to  see  peace  preserved  be- 
tween the  tw-o  countries  on  terms  honourable  to  America ;  but  I 
am,  for  my  part,  ready  to  confess,  that  with  me  it  will  be  a  sub- 
ject of  joy  ;  I  am  ready  to  declare,  that  I  see  less  reason  than 
ever  for  an  Englishman's  wishing  to  see  the  people  of  America 
humbled  or  borne  down ;  and  that  it  will  grieve  me  exceedingly 
to  reflect  that  England  is  taxed,  and  .that  English  blood  is  shed, 
for  the  purpose  of  enforcing  the  power  to  impress  American  sea- 
men; but  this  mortification  I  shall,  T  trust,  be  spared,  by  the 
rhumanity  and  wisdom  of  your  Royal  Highness. 


TO  THE  PRINCE  REGENT. 

tr, 

DURING  the  time  that  I  was  imprisoned  for  two  years  in 
Newgate,  for  writing  about  the  flogging  of  the  local  militia  in  the 
town  of  Ely,  and  about  the  employment  of  German  troops  upon 
that  occasion,  I  addressed  to  your  Royal  Highness  several  letters, 
the  object  of  which  was  to  prevent  this  country  from  being  plunged 
into  war  with  America.  I  took  great  pleasure  in  offering  to  you 
advice,  which  I  thought  would  be  beneficial  to  my  country ;  and, 
of  course,  I  have  experienced  great  sorrow  at  seeing  that  that  ad- 
vice has  not  been  followed,  and  that,  in  consequence  of  its  rejec- 
tion, we  are  now  actually  in  a  state  mt  war  with  our  brethren 
across  the  Atlantic. 

Those  corruptors  and  blinders  of  the- people,  the  hired  writers, 
do  not  attempt  to  make  their  readers  believe  that  we  are  not  at 
war  with  the  republic  of  America.  They  it  is  who  have  hasten- 
ed, if  not  actually  produced,  this  war ;  for  they  it  was  who  reviled 
the  American  president,  and  who  caused  it  to  be  belived  here  that 
he  and  the  congress  dared  not  go  to  war.  What  pains,  alas  1 
have  I  taken  to  convince  your  Royal  Highness  of  the  folly  and 
falsehood  of  these  opinions !  Though  my  mind  was  bruised  with 


84  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

the  means  of  raising  the  thousand  pounds  fine  to  pay  to  the  king, 
(and  which  you  have  received  from  me  in  his  behalf,)  I  let  slip 
no  occasion  to  caution  you  against  these  representations.  I  told 
you  (and  you  might  as  well  have  believed  me)  that  the  American 
people  were  something ;  (hat  they  had  a  say  in  the  measures  of 
government ;  that  they  would  not  suffer  themselves  to  be  plunged 
into  war  for  the  gain  of  a  set  of  lazy  and  rapacious  fellows ;  but 
that,  if  their  country's  good  demanded  it,  they  would  go  to  war ; 
and  that  such  war  would,  in  all  probability,  be  very  calamitous 
to  England. 

While  I  was  telling  you  this,  your  late  minister,  Perceval,  was 
laughing  at  the  idea  of  America  going  to  war ;  and  his  opinion  was 
upheld  by  all  the  venal  scribes  in  the  kingdom ;  that  is  to  say,  by 
nineteen-twentieths,  perhaps,  of  all  those  who  write  in  newspapers, 
and  other  political  works.  That  we  really  are  at  war  with  Ameri- 
ca, however,  the  following  document  clearly  proves.  The  Ame- 
rican congress  declared  war  in  due  form ;  they  passed  an  act 
making  war  against  your  royal  sire  and  his  people  ;  their  govern- 
ment issued  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal ;  but,  still  our  hirelings 
said  that  there  was  no  war.  The  following  proclamation,  however, 
issued  by  an  American  general  from  his  head  quarters  in  Canada, 
which  province  he  has  invaded,  puts  the  fact  of  war  beyond  all 
doubt. 

[The  proclamation  of  Brigadier  General  Hull,  above  alluded  to, 
was  inserted  in  the  Statesman  of  the  1 1th  instant,  to  which  paper 
we  refer  our  readers.] 

He,  sir,  who  will  not  believe  in  this,  would  not  believe  though 
one  were  to  rise  from  the  dead.  This  is  an  animating  address ; 
and  it  is,  at  least,  possible,  that  it  may  prove  the  forerunner  of  the 
fall  of  Canada,  which,  when  once  gone,  will  never,  I  believe,  return 
to  the  English  crown. 

The  fact  of  war  being  now  ascertained  beyond  all  doubt,  the  next 
thing  for  us  to  think  of  is,  the  means  by  which  we  are  to  obtain 
peace  with  this  new  and  most  formidable  enemy.  The  hired 
writers,  unable  any  longer  to  keep  from  their  readers  the  fact  that 
war  has  taken  place,  are  now  affecting  to  treat  the  matter  lightly : 
to  make  the  people  of  England  believe,  that  the  Americans  will  be 
driven  out  of  Canada  ;  that  the  people  of  America  hate  the  war — • 
and  that,  at  any  rate,  the  congress  will  be  obliged  to  put  an  end  to 
the  war,  when  the  intelligence  of  the  repeal  of  our  Orders  in  Coun- 
cil shall  arrive  at  the  seat  of  the  American  government. 

These  being  the  assertions  now  most  in  vogue,  and  most  gene- 
rally listened  to,  I  will  give  your  Royal  Highness  my  reason  for 
disbelieving  them. 

First,  as  to  the  probability  of  the  Americans  being  baffled  in 
their  designs  upon  Canada:  if  the  contest  was  a  contest  of  man  to 
man,  upon  ground  wholly  neutral,  I  should  say,  that  the  advantage 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  85 

might  be  on  our  side  ;  but  I  am  not  sure  thai  it  would  ;  for  the 
Americans  have  given  repeated  proofs  of  their  courage.  They 
are,  indeed,  known  to  be  as  brave  as  any  people  in  the  world, 
They  are,  too,  volunteers,  real  volunteers,  in  the  service  they  are 
now  upon.  The  American  army  does  not  consist  of  a  set  of  poor 
creatures,  whom  misery  and  vice  have  made  soldiers ;  it  does  not 
consist  of  the  offcasts  and  outcasts  of  the  country,  ft  consists 
of  a  band  of  freemen,  who  understand  things,  and  who  are  re;idy 
to  fight  for  what  they  understand ;  and  not  of  a  set  of  half  crip- 
ples, of  creatures  that  require  to  be  trussed  up  in  order  to  pre- 
vent them  from  falling  to  pieces.  It  is  the  youth ;  the  strong,  the 
active,  the  hardy,  the  sound  youth  of  America,  whom  our  army 
in  Canada  have  to  face ;  and  though  I  do  not  say  that  the  latter 
will  be  unable  to  resist  them,  yet  I  must  say>  that  I  fear  they  will 
not,  when  I  consider  that  the  Americans  can  with  ease  pour  in 
a  force  of  forty  or  fifty  thousand  men,  and  when  I  hear  it  stated, 
that  we  have  not  above  fourteen  or  fifteen  thousand  men  in  Cana- 
da, exclusive  of  the  militia,  upon  whom  I  do  not  know  what  de- 
gree of  reliance  is  to  be  placed.  After  all,  however,  the  question 
of  success  in  the  invasion  of  Canada  will,  as  in  the  cases  of  France 
and  Holland,  depend  wholly  upon  the  people  of  Canada.  If 
they  have  reason  to  fight  for  their  present  government ;  if  they 
be  convinced  that  a  change  of  government  would  make  their  lot 
worse,  they  will,  of  course,  rise  and  fight  against  the  invaders,  and 
then  our  commander  may  safely  set  General  Hull  at  defiance  ;  but 
if  the  people  of  Canada  should  have  been  inveigled  to  believe 
that  a  change  of  government  would  be  for  their  benefit,  I  must  con- 
fess that  I  should  greatly  doubt  our  power  of  resistance.  It 
will  be  quite  useless  for  us  to  reproach  the  people  of  Canada  with 
their  want  of  zeal  in  defence  of  their  country.  We  have  re- 
proached the  Dutch  and  the  Italians,  and  the  Hanoverians,  for  the 
like;  but,  sir,  it  answers  no  purpose.  Such  reproaches  do  not 
tend  to  drive  out  the  invaders  ;  nor  do  they  tend  to  deter  other 
nations  from  following  the  example  of  the  invaded  party.  What 
a  whole  nation  wills,  must,  sooner  or  later,  take  place. 

As  -to  the  second  assertion,  that  the  people  of  America  hate  the 
war,  I  must  say  that  I  have  seen  no  proof  of  such  hatred.  The 
Americans,  being  a  reflecting  people,  and  a  people  resolutely  bent 
upon  preserving  their  freedom,  have  a  general  hatred  to  war,  as 
being,  generally  speaking,  hostile  to  that  freedom.  But  in  the 
choice  of  evils,  if  war  should  appear  the  least  evil,  they  will  not 
fail  to  take  it — and,  indeed,  they  have  taken  it — for,  in  America,  it 
is  really  the  people  who  declare  war — the  congress  is  the  real  re- 
presentative of  the  people — there  are  no  sham  elections — no  buy- 
ing and  selling  of  votes  and  of  false  oaths— but  the  members  are 
the  unbought,  uncorrupted,  unenslaved  agents  of  the  people,  and 
if  they  cease  to  speak  the  sentiments  of  the  people  who  elect  them, 


««  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

tfeey  are  put  out  of  the  congress  at  the  end  of  a  very  few  months, 
It  is,  therefore,  not  only  false,  but  stupid,  to  affect  to  believe  the 
war  is  unpopular,  and  the  government  is  odious  in  the  eyes  of  the 
people.  AH  its  members  are  chosen  by  them — and  if  it  ceased 
to  please  them,  it  would  soon  cease  to  exist.  Nothing,  therefore, 
can  be  so  absurd  as  to  suppose  that  a  measure  so  important  aa 
that  of  war  has  been  adopted  against  the  will  of  the  people. 

This  opinion  has  been  attempted  to  be  sustained  upon  the  evi- 
dence of  a  riot  at  Baltimore,  the  object  of  which  was  the  silencing 
of  a  newspaper,  and  Ihe  end  of  which  was  bloodshed  on  both 
sides.  But,  from  this  fact,  the  exactly  contrary  conclusion  ought 
to  be  drawn.  The  newspaper  in  question  was,  as  it  appears,  hos- 
tile to  the  war — and,  therefore,  a  riot,  in  order  to  silence  such  pa- 
per, cannot  be  considered  as  a  proof  of  unpopularity  attached  to 
the  war.  Though  this  species  of  attack  upon  the  liberty  of  the 
press  is  far  less  injurious  to  that  liberty  of  the  press  than  the 
base  attacks  dictated  by  despotism,  and  masked  under  the  visor 
of  forms  dearest  to  freedom — still  it  is  an  attack — it  is  answering 
statement  and  argument  by  violence — by  something  other  than 
statement  and  argument.  Therefore,  I  disapprove  of  the  attack 
— but  I  cannot  consider  it  as  a  mark  of  the  unpopularity  of  the 
war,  of  the  precise  contrary  of  which  it  is,  indjeed,  a  very  bad 
proof. 

Much  having,  in  our  hired  newspapers,  been  said  of  this  riot ;  ft 
having  been  represented  as  a  proof  of  bad  government  in  Ame- 
rica, and  (which  is  more  to  my  present  purpose)  as  a  sign  of  ap- 
proaching anarchy,  tending  to  the  overthrow  of  that  government 
which  has  declared  war  against  us,  I  must  trespass  a  Uttle  further 
^jpon  this  head,  to  beg  your  Royal  Highness  to  believe  nothing 
that  the  hired  men  say  upon  the  subject.  When  the  war  with 
France  began,  in  1794;  that  war,  which  appears  not  to  promise 
any  end  ;  when  that  war  began,  many  riots  took  place  in  England, 
against  those  who  were  opposed  to  the  war;  many  houses  were  de- 
stroyed—-many  printing  offices  demolished — many  booksellers  put 
to  flight — many  men  were  totally  ruined — and  that,  too,  by  mobs 
marching  and  killing  under  banners  on  which  were  inscribed 
*l  Church  and  King.'9  Now,  as  there  was  a  general  anarchy  to 
follow  these  things  in  England,  I  beg  your  Royal  Highness  not 
to  be  persuaded  to  believe  that  anarchy  will  follow  the  demolish- 
ing of  a  printing  office  in  the  United  States  of  America,  where 
there  are  more  newspapers  than  there  are  in  all  Europe,  this  coun- 
try included.  Once  more,  however,  I  express  my  disapprobation, 
and  even  iny  abhorrence,  of  that  demolition;:  which  was  the  Jess 
excusable,  as  the  assailants  had  freedom,  real  freedom  of  the  press, 
to  answer  any  thing  which  the  bribed  printer  might  publish,  and 
even  to  publish  an  account  of  his  bribery.  Such,  however,  ap- 
pears to  have  been  the  popular  feeling  in  favour  of  the  war?  thcv{; 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  87 

no  consideration  was  of  sufficient  weight  to  restrain  the  resent- 
ment of  the  people  against  a  man  who  was  daily  declaiming  agaiuat 
that  measure. 

If  we  consider,  as  I  think  we  must,  that  the  people  of  America 
were  in  favour  of  the  war  at  the  time  it  was  declared,  the  next 
thing  to  be  considered  is,  what  effect  the  intelligence  of  the 
repeal  of  the  Orders  in  Council  will  have  in  America.  The  ques- 
tion is,  in  short,  whether  that  intelligence  wili  make  such  a  change 
in  the  sentiments  of  the  people  of  America,  as  to  produce  peace. 
I  think  it  will  not.  There  are  some  persons  in  England  who  seem 
to  believe,  that  the  receipt  of  that  intelligence  will  at  once  put  an 
end  to  the  war ;  for  they  do  not  appear  to  consider  any  treaty  ne- 
cessary to  the  restoration  of  peace  with  America. 

Not  only  must  there  be  a  negociation,  and  a  treaty  of  convention, 
before  there  can  be  peace,  or  even  a  suspension  of  arms;  but  I  am 
of  opinion,  that  no  such  treaty  or  convention  can  be  made  without 
Diore  being  done  by  us  than  merely  the  repealing  of  our  Orders 
in  Council,  which  removes  but  a  part,  and  not,  by  any  means,  the 
greatest  part  of  the  grievances  of  which  the  Americans  complain* 
So  long  age*  as  the  month  of  February  last,  as  will  be  seen  by  my  mot- 
to, I  expressed  to  your  Royal  Highness  my  opinion,  that  the  mere 
repeal  of  the  Orders  in  Council  would  not  satisfy  the  people  of  Ame- 
rica. It  was,  therefore,  with  no  small  degree  of  surprise,  that  I 
saw  (from  the  reports  in  the  newspapers)  that  Mr.  Brougham  had 
pledged  himself  to  support  the  ministers  in  a  war  with  America,  if 
she  should  not  be  satisfied  with  their  measure  of  repeal.  I  was- 
surprised  at  this,  because  Mr.  Brougham  must  have  seen  that  she 
complained  of  the  impressment  of  her  seamen,  and  of  divers- 
other  things  which  she  deemed  to  be  injuries.  Besides,  did  Mr. 
Brougham  imagine  that  our  two  years  nearly  of  refusal  to  repeal 
were  to  go  off  without  any  thing  being  done  by  us  in  the  way  of 
compensation.  The  history  of  the  transaction  is  this :  The  American 
President  announces,  in  (810,  that  unless  we  repeal  our  Orders  by 
a  certain  day,  in  the  same  way  that  France  had  done,  a  certain 
law  shall  go  into  force  against  us.  We  do  not  comply  ;  we  con- 
tinue in  what  he  calls  a  violation  of  his  country's  rights  for  a  year 
and  a  half  after  the  time  appointed  for  repealing ;  at  the  end  of 
that  lime  an  inquiry  takes  place  in  parliament,  and  two  volumes 
are  published  containing  evidence  of  the  ruinous  effects,  to  us,  of  the 
measure  which  America  has  adopted.  Thereupon,  we  repeal. 
But,  sir,  Mr.  Brougham  can  hardly  want  to  be  told,  that  America 
has  made  no  promise  to  be  satisfied  with  any  repeal  which  should 
take  place  after  her  act  should  go  into  effect.  Indeed,  she  has 
never  made  any  such  promise  ;  nor  was  it  to  be  supposed  that, 
when  she  saw  her  measure  of  exclusion  was  ruining  us,  she  would 
be  content  with  our  merely  doing  that  which  was  calculated  to  save 
••?!v<?<?.  This,  in  feet,  is  orrrTaoguasre  to  her ;  we  refused  to  re- 


88  Letters  of  William  t'obbett,  Esq. 

peal  our  Orders  till  we  found  that  the  not  repealing  them  was  inju- 
rious to  ourselves,  and,  therefore,  we  now  repeal  them,  and,  in  con- 
sequence, call  upon  you  to  act  as  if  we  had  never  refused. 

This,  sir,  is  what  no  nation  can  be  supposed  to  listen  to.  We 
do  what  America  deems  an  injury ;  we  do  what  she  says  is  suffi- 
cient to  justify  her  in  declaring  war  against  us.  And,  after  a 
while,  we  desist ;  but  notoriously  because  proof  has  been  produced 
that  perseverance  is  injurious  to  ourselves.  In  the  meanwhile  she 
declares  war,  to  compel  us  to  do  that  which  we  have  done  before 
v?e  hear  of  her  declaration.  And,  under  these  circumstances,  can 
we  expect  her  to  disarm  until  she  has  obtained  something  like  in- 
demnification for  (he  injuries  which  she  alleges  she  has  sustained  ? 
If  I  here  were  in  existence  no  ground  of  dispute  other  than  that  of  the 
Orders  in  Council,  it  appears  to  me  that  America  could  (especially 
with  our  parliamentary  evidence  before  her)  never  think  of  peace 
without  a  compensation  for  the  vessels, seized  illegally,  as  she  says, 
under  the  Orders  in  Council.  Otherwise,  she  tells  the  world  that 
she  may  be  always  injured  with  impunity  ;  because  the  utmost  that 
any  nation  has  to  apprehend  from  her  hostility  is  to  be  compelled 
to  cease  to  violate  her  rights.  Upon  this  principle  she  may  be 
exposed  to  a  like  attack  the  next  day  after  she  has  made  peace. 
Either,  therefore,  she  complains  without  cause,  or  the  mere  re- 
peal of  our  Orders  in  Council  ought  not  to  satisty  her. 

Besides,  sir,  it  appears  to  me,  that  even  supposing  that  there 
were  no  other  ground  for  the  war,  on  her  part,  than  the  existence 
of  our  Orders  in  Council,  she  is  bound,  in  fairness  towards  the  em- 
peror Napoleon,  to  obtain  some  kind  of  compensation  for  what  she 
Las  suffered  from  the  execution  of  our  Orders  in  Council  after  the 
time  that  he  repealed  his  Decrees.  If  she  make  peace  with  us, 
and  place  us  upon  the  same  footing  with  France,  without  obtain- 
ing such  compensation,  he  will  assuredly  allege  partiality  against 
her,  since  she  will  have  suffered  us  to  continue  to  do  with  impuni- 
ty, for  a  year  and  a  half,  that  which  she  has  made  him  cease  io 
do.  It  was,  therefore,  1  repeat  it,  matter  of  great  surprise  with 
me,  that  Mr.  Brougham  should  have  given  the  pledge  above  men- 
tioned; though  I  hope  your  Royal  Highness  will  be  advised  bet- 
ter than  to  pursue  measures  that  shall  put  them  to  the  test. 

Compensation  for  the  property  seized  under  the  Orders  in  Coun- 
cil will,  I  think,  be  denied — and  if  the  Orders  be  recognised  as  a 
violation  of  the  rights  of  America,  I  do  not  see  upon  what  ground 
such  compensation  could  be  objected  to  ;  but,  sir,  as  far  as  relates 
to  ourselves,  I  trust,  that  the  means  of  making  such  compensation 
would  not  be  demanded  of  the  people,  but  would  be  taken  from 
those  who  have  received  the  amount  of  the  property  seized. 
With  this,  however,  America  has  nothing  to  do — she  can  only 
demand  compensation ;  but  she  may  extend  that  demand  to  the 
amount  of  her  fitting  out  ships  of  war,  and  in  sending  forth  an 


Letters  of  William  C'obbett,  Esq.  89 

army.  "  Indemnity  for  the  past  and  security  for  the  future"  is, 
sir,  a  phrase  not  unknown  to  those  who  adorn,  and  have  adorned 
your  royal  sire's  court ;  and  I  do  not  know  of  any  maxim  in  pub- 
lic law,  or  in  diplomacy,  that  forbids  a  republic  any  more  than  a 
monarchy  to  make  such  a  demand.  If  we  do  allow  that  America 
has  just  cause  of  complaint,  we  do  wrong,  we  act  a  base  and  cow- 
ardly part,  if  we  desist  not  from  doing  that  which  she  complains 
of. 

Upon  what  ground  it  is,  then,  that  Mr.  Brougham  expects  an 
immediate  cessation  of  hostilities  on  the  part  of  America,  I  am  at 
a  loss  to  discover.  I  am  at  a  loss  to  discover  upon  what  ground 
it  is  that  he  has  made  his  pledge,  or  at  least  the  pledge  which  has 
been  attributed  to  him.  Either  he  must  look  upon  the  Orders  in 
Council  as  the  sole  ground  of  the  American  declaration  of  war,  or. 
he  must  suppose  there  to  be  other  grounds.  If  he  looks  upon  them 
as  the  sole  ground,  he  must,  I  think,  suppose  that  America  will 
lay  down  her  arms  without  obtaining  indemnity  for  such  heavy 
losses  as  those  Orders  have  occasioned  her ;  and  if  he  looks  upon 
the  declaration  as  having  been  partly  produced  by  other  subjects  of 
complaint,  he  must  reasonably  suppose,  that  an  adjustment,  as  to 
those  grounds  of  complaint,  must  precede  a  cessation  of  hostilities. 

Whatever  pledges  may  have  been  given  by  any  persons,  it  is 
for  your  Royal  Highness  to  lend  an  ear  to   the  voice  of  reason  ; 
and  I  am  greatly  deceived,  if  that  voice  will  not  recommend  to 
you  an  expression,  as  speedily  as  possible,  of  your  readiness  to 
cause  the  officers  of  the  fleet  to  cease  to  impress  any  person  out 
of  American  ships.     This,  as  I  have  before  had  the  honour  to 
assure  your  Royal  Highness,  is  the  complaint  which  has,  at  last, 
in  reality,  produced  the  war  between  us  and  our  American  bre- 
thren. There  have  been  many  subjects  of  difference,  many  grounds 
of  quarrel,  but  this  is  what  finds  its  way  to  the  heart  of  the  Ame- 
rican people.     They  would,  I  verily  believe,  have  endured  all 
but  this  :  this,  however,  I  knew  they  would  not  endure,  and  I  told 
your  ministers  and  the  public  so  long  ago.     If  I  am  asked  whether 
I  think   that  the  ceasing  to  impress  people  on  board  of  Ameri- 
can ships  would  cause  many  of  our  sailors  to  desert,  I  answer, 
that  I  do  not  know — but  that  I  do  not  see  why  it  should  ;  I  do 
not  see  why  Englishmen  should  like  the  American  service  better 
than  our  own.     And,  really,  I  must  say,  sir,  that  I  think,  that  to 
entertain  any  such  apprehension  squares  not  well  with  the  tenor 
of  our  national  songs,  about  the  valour  and  patriotism  of  our  "  tars." 
I  think  it  exceedingly  humiliating  to  us  to  suffer  it  to  be  said,  or 
to  act  as  if  we  said,  that  we  must  retain  the  power  of  impressment, 
or  personal  seizure,  on  board  American  ships  out  at  sea,  for  fear 
the  giving  up  of  that  power  should  cause  our  fleet  to  be  deserted. 
Sir,  I  am  one  of  those  who  love  to  believe   that  English  seamen 
do  not  want  force  to  induce  them  to  fight  for  their  country.     It 

t2 


9(T  Letters  of  William  Cobbdt,  Esq. 

is,  in  my  eyes,  a  most  mortifying  thing  to  proclaim  to  the  worM, 
that  we  are  likely  to  have  a  war  with  America,  and  that  we  appear 
to  prefer  war  with  America  to  the  giving  up  of  the  means  of  de- 
tecting and  seizing  English  sailors,  deserters  from  the  king's  ser- 
vice. This  so  badly  comports  with  all  our  assertions  respecting 
the  freedom  we  enjoy,  and  also  respecting  our  devotion  to  our 
king  and  our  glorious  constitution:  for  it  appears  to  me,  that  if  the 
world  believed  in  the  necessity  of  this  power  of  impressment,  it 
must  think  either  that  our  boastings  of  our  blessed  state  are  untrue, 
or  that  our  sailors  are  not  the  most  wise  or  the  most  loyal  set  of 
men.  I  am  for  wiping  off  the  stigma  ;  and  without  crying  or  faint- 
ing away,  as  Sir  Vicary  Gibbs  is  reported  to  have  done  at  Horse- 
monger  lane,  I  am  for  showing  the  Yankees,  and  the  whole  world, 
that  we  want  no  terror  to  keep  our  seamen  to  their  duty  ;  that  we 
are  not  afraid  of  tbeir  skulking  from  our  fleet  to  take  refuge  in 
American  ships;  that  we  entertain  not  the  disgraceitil  apprehen- 
sion, that  those  who  have  once  had  the  honour  to  sail  under  the 
Royal  flag  of  the  house  of  Hanover,,  will  ever  prefer  that  of  the 
American,  or  any  other  republic. 

Honour*  sir,  as  well  as  policy,  seem  to  me  to  dictate  the  giving 
up  of  this  power ;  and,  as  the  giving  of  it  up  might,  and,  as  I  think, 
would,  cause  the  restoration  of  peace  between  England  and  Ame- 
rica, I  will  not  be  persuaded  that  such  a  measure  does  not  accord 
with  the  wishes  of  your  Royal  Highness. 

As  to  "  the  exhausting  the  resources  of  America,"  which  now 
begins  to  be  talked  of  by  that  most  corrupt  of  newspapers,  the 
Times,  I  do  most  earnestly  beseech  your  Royal  Highness  to  bear 
in  mind  how  long  the  late  Pitt  promised  this  deluded  nation  that 
he  would  exhaust  the  resources  of  republican  France!  Sir,  Mr. 
Madison,  though  a  very  plain-dressed,  sleek  headed  man ;  though 
he  wears  neither  tails,  nor  bags,  nor  big  wigs,  nor  robes ;  though 
he  dresses  in  a  pepper-and  salt  coat,  and  a  nice  dimily  waistcoat., 
knows  a  great  deal  more  of  our  real  situation  than  I  believe  many 
of  your  ministers  know  of  it ;  and  I  should  not  wonder  if  he  knew 
almost  as  much  of  it  as  your  Royal  flighness's  self  does.  He  is 
a  man,  sir,  who  is  not  to  be  led  by  our  hireling  prints ;  he  sees 
our  gold  at  above  five  pounds  an  ounce ;  he  has  seen  acts  passed, 
which,  in  effect,  force  the  circulation  of  our  bank  notes;  and,  see- 
ing this,  he  does  not  want  any  body  to  tell  him  what  is  coming ; 
seeing  this,  he  will  laugh  at  the  idea  of  our  exhausting  the  resour- 
ces of  America,  the  capital  of  whose  whole  debt  does  not  amount 
to  a  tenth  part  of  one  half  year's  interest  upon  our  debt.  This 
ground  of  hope  is,  sir,  more  visionary  than  any  other.  .  Indeed, 
they  are  all  equally  visionary.  There  is  no  hope  of  any  thing 
but  loss  and  injury  to  us  by  a  war  \viih  America. 

I  have  now  done  all  that  1  am  able  to  prevent  this  calamity.  If 
the  war  proceeds,  1  shall  say  as  little  about  it  as  circumstances 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  91 

will  permit.  I  have  lost  no  occasion  of  endeavouring  to  put  aside 
this  evil;  and  when  the  result  of  the  contest  shall  be  lamented— 
when  those  who  now  rejoice  at  the  idea  of  doing  mischief  to  free- 
men shall  be  weeping  over  their  folly,  I  trust  that  your  Royal 
Highness  will  have  the  justice  to  remember  that  this  war  had  a 
decided  opponent  in  your  faithful  servant, 

WAI.    COBBETT. 


TO   THE    PRINCE  REGENT. 

Sir, 

WHEN  I  closed  my  last  letter  to  your  Royal  Highness  up- 
on this  subject,  it  was  my  intention  to  forbear  any  further  remon- 
strance wi(h  you  thereon,  and  to  leave  time  to  be  the  teacher. 
But  the  intelligence,  arrived  from  America  since  the  date  of  that 
letter,  has  made  me  depart  from  that  intention,  and  has  induced 
me  to  make  one  more  effort  to  convince  you,  that  without  further 
measures  in  the  way  of  conciliation,  peace  with  America  is  not 
likely  to  be  restored. 

The  very  day  on  which  my  last  letter  was  printing,  (Friday- 
last,)  was  marked  by  the  promulgation  of  tidings  from  America, 
that  the  congress  had  revoked  tlie  declaration  of  war,  and  that 
the  American  general  in  Canada  had  entered  into  an  armistice  for 
thirty  days;  and  that  both  these  had  taken  place  in  consequence 
of  the  revocation  of  our  Orders  in  Council.  A  few  hours  were  suf- 
ficient to  dissipate  these  falsehoods ;  fabricated,  no  doubt,  for  the 
purpose  of  deceiving  the  people  of  this  "  most  thinking"  country. 
The  deception  would  last,  in  all  human  probability,  for  only  a  few 
days ;  but,  at  the  end  of  those  days,  a  new  falsehood  would  be 
invented,  and  the  old  one  lost  in  that.  This  falsehood,  however, 
does  not  appear  to  have  lived  even  forty-eight  hours  ;  for  the 
very  next  day  after  its  promulgation  brought  forth  the  contradic- 
tion ;  brought  forth  the  complete  proof  of  a  fabrication.  Surely, 
sir,  the  people  of  America  must  despise  us  !  They  must  despise, 
or,  at  least,  pity,  a  nation  who  are  made  the  sport  of  such  vile  lite- 
rary impostors ;  base  hirelings,  who  prostitute  the  press  to  all  the 
purposes  hostile  to  truth  and  freedom. 

The  authentic  intelligence  received  from  America  appears  to 
be,  in  substance,  this:  That  the  American  government  has  receiv- 
ed intelligence  of  the  repeal  of  our  Orders  in  Council,  but  that  it 
is  by  no  means  satisfied  therewith,  and  means  to  demand  a  redresa 
of  all  its  alleged  grievances  before  it  lays  down  its  arms.  In  con- 
firmation of  this,  the  following  paragraph  has  been  quoted  from  a 
paper  deemed  the  demi-official  paper  of  the  American  govern* 
meat: 


92  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

"  The  Orders  in  Council  of  the  British  government  are  now  no 
longer  a  question  with  the  United  States.  The  question  of  peace 
now  requires  only  a  proper  and  a  vigorous  use  of  the  ample  means 
which  the  government  is  possessed  of,  to  render  it  speedy,  deci- 
sive, and  glorious.  Peace,  when  it  comes,  must  bring  with  it  more 
than  the  confession  of  British  outrage  by  the  retraction  of  its 
avowed  tyranny.  It  is  not  a  mere  cessation  to  do  wrong  that 
can  now  produce  a  peace ;  wrongs  done  must  be  redressed  ;  and 
a  guarantee  must  be  given,  in  the  face  of  the  world,  for  the  resto- 
ration of  our  enslaved  citizens,  and  the  respect  due  to  our  flag, 
which,  like  the  soil  we  inherit,  must  in  future  secure  all  that  sails 
under  it.  The  rights  of  neutrals  must  be  recognised ;  and  the 
British,  like  the  first  tyrants  of  the  Swiss,  must  no  longer  expect 
a  free  people  to  bow  down  and  worship  the  symbols  of  British 
usurpation." 

Did  I  not  tell  you  so,  sir,  in  my  very  last  letter  ?  Did  I  not  say, 
that  America  would  now  demand  "indemnity  for  the  past,  and 
security  for  the  future  /*"  I  wished  to  guard  your  Royal  Highness 
against  deception,  and  I,  for  that  purpose,  entered  into  an  argu- 
ment to  show  that  we  ought  not  to  expect  America  to  make  peace 
with  us  upon  our  having  barely  ceased  to  commit  what  she  as- 
serted to  be  a  violation  of  her  rights.  I  told  your  Royal  Highness, 
that  she,  for  more  than  one  reason,  must  demand  something  more 
than  a  mere  cessation  to  do  what  she  declared  to  be  a  wrong. 
In  short,  if  I  had  been  informed,  when  I  wrote  my  last  letter,  of 
what  1  now  know,  I  could  not  have  written  otherwise  than  I  then 
did. 

I,  therefore,  have,  I  think,  some  claim  to  atlention  from  your 
Royal  Highness,  especially  as  I  have  all  along  told  you,  that  the 
repeal  of  our  Orders  would  not,  alone,  be  sufficient.  When  the 
repeal  took  place,  upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Perceval,  and  when  Mr. 
Ponsonby  and  Mr.  Brougham  were  reported  to  be  making  pledges 
to  support  a  war  against  America,  if  that  repeal  did  not  satisfy 
her — at  that  time — at  that  important  moment,  when  conciliation 
might  have  been  rendered  complete ;  even  then,  without  a  moment's 
delay,  I  told  your  Royal  Highness,  that  the  repeal  of  the  Orders 
would  not,  of  itself,  be  enough,  and,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  passage 
taken  for  my  motto,  I  most  earnestly  besought  you  to  put  a  stop, 
of  your  own  accord,  to  the  impressment  of  persons  on  board  of 
American  ships.  If  this  had  been  done,  sir  ;  if  this  measure,  so 
strongly  recommended  by  me,  had  been  adopted  then,  we  should 
DOW  have  seen  our  ports  crowded  with  American  ships  to  take 
away  our  maniifactures,  instead  of  hearing  of  hundreds  .of  Ameri- 
can privateers  cruising  against  our  commerce. 

The  Courier  and  Times,  newspapers,  two  of  the  most  corrupt 
in  England,  make  certain  remarks  upon  the  paragraph  which  I 
have  quoted  from  the  American  demi-official  print;  and  as  these 
remarks  embrace  assertions  and  notions  that  arc  false,  it  b  neces- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbell,  £*$.  93 

aary,  or,  at  least,  it  may  be  useful  to  put  the  matters  of  which  they 
treat  in  a  fair  light. 

The  Courier  has  this  paragraph: — "Here,  then,  is  an  open 
avowal,  that  nothing  will  satisfy  the  American  government  bul  <he 
abandonment  of  the.  right  of  search,  and  the  acknowledgment  of 
the  principle,  that  free  ships  make  free  goods.  Perish  the  idea 
of  peace,  if  it  is  only  to  be  made  on  such  terms.  Yet  this  the 
American  government  calls  an  anxious  desire  to  accommodate  all 
differences  upon  the  most  reasonable  conditions  !  !  !" 

The  Times  says  : — "  In  this  philippic,  redress  is  not  only  claim- 
ed for  the  supposed  wrongs  inflicted  by  this  country,  but  it  is  de- 
clared that  the  'American  flag  must  in  future  secure  all  that  sails 
under  it.1  This  is  adopting,  in  its  fullest  extent,  the  language  of 
Buonaparte,  that  '  free  ships  make  free  goods.'  If  that  principle 
be  maintained  by  the  American  government,  and  supported  by 
the  American  legislature,  we  see  not  the  slightest  prospect  of  a 
speedy  termination  of  hostilities." 

Thus,  then,  these  good  hirelings  are  for  war,  rather  than  give 
up  what  they  call  the  "  right  of  search.1'  They  are  hardly  so 
stupid  as  not  to  know  that  the  Americans  do  not  contend  for  our 
abandonment  of  the  right  of  search,  in  the  usual  sense  of  those 
words;  they  must  know  that,  as  far  as  to  search  ships  at  sea  (or 
rather  to  visit  them)  has  been  sanctioned  by  the  usage  of  nations, 
(he  Americans  are  ready  to  submit  to  it ;  but,  sir,  this  right  of 
search  is  very  different  indeed  from  that  of  which  these  good  hired 
writers  are  speaking. 

There  is  a  right  of  search,  or  of  visit,  acknowledged  by  all  the 
nations  of  Europe.  When  a  nation  is  at  war,  she  claims  the  right 
of  visiting  all  neutral  merchant  ships  at  sea,  in  order  to  see  that 
they  do  not  visit  her  enemy  by  carrying  warlike  stores  or  troops 
for  him;  and  if  she  find  them  thus  taking  part  with  her  enemy  ; 
if  she  find  them  thus  transgressing  the  general  usage  of  nations,  she 
seizes  them,  as,  indeed,  she  has  just  cause  for  doing,  seeing  that 
they  are,  in  fact,  engaged  in  the  war  against  her.  And  the  right 
of  visiting  them,  to  see  whether  they  be  thus  transgressing,  has 
been,  by  us,  called  the  right  of  search-  We  have  contended  for, 
and  have,  for  some  time  pasl,  been  able  to  maintain,  an  extension 
of  this  right  to  the  goods  of  an  enemy  found  in  a  neutral  ship  ; 
though  it  is  to  be  obser\ed,  that  our  ally,  Russia,  and  our  ally, 
Sweden,  as  well  as  Denmark  and  Holland,  in  all  times,  have  con- 
tended against  this  right.  But  what  have  these  to  do  wilh  the 
searching  of  which  Americans  complain  ?  They  complain,  not 
that  we  seize  contraband  of  war  on  board  their  vessels;  not  that 
we  confiscate  ships  or  cargoes  where  there  are  enemy's  troops  or 
enemy's  goods;  but  that  we  stop  their  vessels  upon  the  high  seas, 
and  that  there  we  TAKE  OUT  OF  THEM  IVHAIEVEK  PERSONS  w£ 
PLEASE.  This  is  what  they  complain  of;  and  the  fact  is  perfect- 


94  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

]y  notorious,  that  we  have,  in  this  way,  taken  many  thousands  of 
persons  out  of  American  ships,  carrying  on  their  trade  quietly 
from  one  part  of  the  world  to  another.  It  is  notorious,  that  many 
of  the  persons  thus  seized  were  citizens  and  native  Americans  ; 
that  they  have  been  taken  on  board  of  our  ships  of  war;  that  they 
have  been  kept  there  for  years;  that  they  have  been  taken  to  all 
parts  of  the  world  ;  that  many  of  them  have  been  wounded,  many 
have  lost  their  limbs,  and  many  killed,  in  a  service  which  they  ab- 
horred, being  compelled  to  fight  against  those  with  whom  they 
had  no  quarrel. 

There  is  no  man  of  any  consideration,  who  will  attempt  to  say 
that  this  is  right.  It  must  of  necessity,  have  created  a  deep-rooted 
ill  will  against  us  in  America,  where  the  seafaring  people  are  not 
a  class  of  individuals  who  have  neither  house  nor  home,  and  whose 
state  is  desperate.  A  vessel,  in  America,  is  often  manned  by  peo- 
ple all  living  in  the  same  village;  and  the  impressment,  the  ban- 
ishment, the  destruction  of  one,  must  be  felt  by  the  whole,  and  by 
the  whole  of  the  neighbourhood  also.  Hence  the  heart  burnings 
in  America  against  England.  The  confiscation  of  ships  and  car- 
goes, under  the  Orders  in  Council,  together  with  the  dreadful  dis- 
tress to  the  captains  and  crews,  produced  great  effect  agains!  us; 
but,  great  as  it  was,  it  fell  short  of  the  effect  produced  by  the 
impressment  of  American  seamen. 

It  has  been  said  that,  if  we  give  up  the  exercise  of  this  power 
of  impressment,  our  sailors  will  desert  to  the  American  ships. 
But  suppose  the  fact  to  be  so:  what  is  that  to  America?  It  is  not 
her  fault.  She  does  not  force  them  out  of  our  service.  She  does 
not  compel  them  to  desert.  If  they  really  do  like  her  service 
better  than  ours,  she  cannot  help  that.  We  may  as  well  complain 
of  her  for  having  such  a  country  as  our  artisans  and  manufacturers 
prefer  to  their  own,  and,  upon  that  ground,  go  and  search  her 
country  for  our  deserted  artisans  and  manufacturers,  who  emigrate 
to  her  shores  in  defiance  of  our  laws.  Really,  sir,  I  can  see  no 
just  cause  of  complaint  against  her  because  our  men  desert  to  her 
ships.  It  is  for  us  to  keep  our  men,  if  we  \vish  them  not  to  go 
into  her  service  ;  and  not  to  complain  of  her  for  receiving  them. 

It  is  a  practice  wholly  unknown  in  the  world  before.  We  have 
never,  that  I  have  heard  of,  attempted  to  exercise  such  a  power 
against  any  nation  but  America.  It  is  true,  that  all  our  officers 
who  may  visit  her  ships  may  not  conduct  themselves  in  a  manner 
such  as  she  has  complained  of;  but  it  is  not  less  true,  that  they 
are  left  entirely  to  their  own  discretion.  They  are,  it  is  true,  not 
authorized  to  take  Americans  out  of  American  ships  ;  but,  then, 
it  is  left  to  them,  and  must  be  wholly  left  to  them,  to  decide  who 
are.  and  who  are  not,  Americans.  This  being  the  case,  it  is  clear 
that  every  American  ship's  crew,  who  meet  an  English  ship  of 
war  at  sea,  are  at  the  mercy  of  the  commander  of  that  ship  of  war .' 


Letters  of  William  Cobbeit,  Esq.  95 

No  more  need  be  said  ;  for  no  man  likes  to  be  at  the  mercy  of 
another.  The  English  captain  has,  in  this  case,  the  power  ot  sei- 
zure, of  imprisonment,  ot  banishment,  and,  indeed,  what  pow  er  has 
he  not  over  the  American  crew  ?  They  may  produce  proof  of  be- 
ing natives  of  America,  and  then  he  is  not  authorized  to  seize 
them.  Aye!  but  he,  alas!  is  the  sole  and  absolute  judge  f  that 
proof,  which  he  may  think  bad,  and  then  it  may  as  well  not  DC 
produced. 

This  is  the  view  to  take  of  the  matter,  sir.  The  corrupt  press 
of  London  may,  and  will,  bewilder  the  minds  of  the  people,  by 
talking  about  the  right  of  search  and  the  like  ;  but  the  plain  fact  is 
this:  that  in  consequence  of  this  authority  given  to  our  ships  of 
war,  to  take  persons  out  of  American  ships  at  sea,  the  crew  of 
every  American  merchant  ship  that  went  to  sea,  or  even  from 
one  port  to  another  in  America,  were  at  the  absolute  mercy 
of  the  commander  of  the  first  English  ship  of  war  that  hap- 
pened to  meet  them.  Suppose  the  case,  sir,  of  an  Ameri- 
can captain  sailing  out  of  the  Delaware  for  the  East  Indies 
with  his  complement  of  men,  being  twenty,  all  his  neighbours, 
met  by  an  English  sloop  of  war;  suppose  him  to  have  six  of  nis 
men  taken,  in  spite  of  all  his  assurances  of  their  being  native 
Americans;  suppose  him  to  pursue  his  voyage  with  only  four- 
teen hands;  suppose  the  six  seized  men  be  taken  off  to  the  West 
Indies  ;  suppose  two  or  three  die  of  the  yellow  fever  ;  another  to 
be  killed  ;  another  lose  an  arm,  arid  the  sixth  released  by  the  inter- 
vention of  the  American  consul  at  London.  Suppose  this  case,  sir, 
and  you  will  suppose  what  may  have  happened.  It  was  possible  for 
such  cases  to  happen,  and  that  was  enough ;  but  it  was  a  thing 
which  admitted  of  being  rendered  impossible.  It  is  sufficient  to 
say,  that  in  consequence  of  this  power,  no  American  could,  in  a 
merchant  ship,  sail  the  sea  in  safety.  He  never  was,  for  one  sin- 
gle hour,  secure  against  captivity  and  banishment.  To  a  people 
so  situated,  war  must  be  a  relief.  The  American  seamen  will 
prefer  war,  because,  if  captured  in  war,  the  laws  of  war  protect  him 
and  feed  him  as  a  prisons* — whereas  he  was  before  liable,  not  on- 
ly to  be  seized  and  carried  from  his  calling  and  country,  but,  at 
the  same  time,  compelled  to  act  as  a  seaman  on  board  of  our  ships  ; 
compelled  to  labour  and  to  risk  his  life  in  our  service,  where  it 
might  be  his  lot  to  assist  in  serving  others  of  his  own  countrymen  as 
he  himself  had  been  served. 

Sir,  when  you  take  a  dispassionate  view  of  this  matter,  I  am 
quite  sure,  that  the  justice  of  your  mind  will  decide  you  in  favour 
of  an  abandonment,  a  frank  abandonment,  of  the  exercise  of  this 
power,  which  is,  I  am  satisfied,  without  a  precedent  in  the  usage 
of  nations,  and  which,  under  the  present  circumstances,  can  do 
nothing  towards  the  safety  of  the  country. 

If  this  point  were  once  settled,  it  appears  to  me  that  much  diffi- 


96  Letters  of  William  Cobbeit,  Esq. 

culty  would  not  remain.  But,  as  I  had  the  honour  to  stale  to 
your  Royal  Highness,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed,  that  war  is  to  cease 
the  moment  we  cease  to  do  wrong  to  America.  I  have  not  taken 
upon  me  to  say,  whether  our  Orders  in  Council  were  a  wrong  or 
not;  but,  by  the  repeal,  we  seem  to  have  acknowledged  that  they 
were.  If,  !hen,  they  were  a  wrong,  the  cessation  of  them  cannot 
be  considered  as  sufficient  to  induce  America  to  put  up  the  sword 
at  once,  and  without  further  ceremony.  When  I  published  what 
was  called  a  libel,  in  the  year  1812,  (hat  is  to  say,  when  I  publish- 
ed an  expression  of  my  feelings  at  what  hud  then  been  described 
as  having  taken  place  at  the  town  of  Ely,  (where  the  bank  has 
since  broken,)  with  respect  to  the  local  miliiia  and  the  German 
legion;  when  1  made  that  publication,  I  ceased — I  made  only  one 
of  that  sort ;  yet,  sir,  was  J,  at  the  distance  of  a  year  after  the 
publication,  sentenced  to  be  imprisoned  for  two  years,  and  to  pay 
a  thousand  pounds  fine  to  your  royal  sire,  and  which  thousand 
pounds  I  have  paid  (o  you  in  his  behalf.  So  you  see,  sir,  that 
after  one  has  done  a  thing,  or  has  been  doing  a  thing,  it  is  not  al- 
ways sufiicient  to  cease  to  do  it ;  the  ceasing  to  do  that  which  is 
deemed  wrong  is  not  always  regarded  as  sufficient  to  appease,  or 
disarm  the  offended  party.  The  last  part  of  my  punishment,  the 
payment  of  the  fine  to  you,  in  behalf  of  your  royal  sire,  was  inflict- 
ed at  more  than  three  years*  distance  from  the  time  of  my  writing 
about  the  local  militia  and  the  German  legion.  There  may,  per- 
haps, in  the  law  of  nations,  be  an  exception  from  the  general  prin- 
ciples, in  cases  where  a  kingly  government  commits  an  offence,  or 
alleged  offence,  against  a  republic ;  but,  in  my  small  reading,  I 
have,  I  must  confess,  never  met  with  any  such  exception. 

Therefore,  I,  for  my  part,  was  not  at  all  surprised  to  see  the 
American  demi-official  print  announce,  that  compensation  for  Ihf 
past,  and  security  for  the  future,  would  be  required.  "  It  is  not," 
says  the  writer,  "  a  mere  cessation  to  do  wrong  that  can  now 
produce  a  peace  ;  wrong  done  must  be  redressed ,  and  a  guarantee 
must  be  given  in  the  face  of  the  world."  Yes,  sir,  just  as  in  my 
case,  who,  alter  imprisonment  and  fine,  was  compelled,  before  I 
was  released,  to  enter  into  bonds,  to  give  a  guarantee,  as  the  re- 
publican writer  calls  it.  Indeed,  sir,  the  history  of  the  world  is 
full  of  cases  in  support  of  this  doctrine  of  the  Americans.  When 
your  royal  brother  invaded  Holland,  it  was  not  sufficient  that  he 
ceased  to  penetrate  into  the  country  ;  for  when  he  got  back  to  the 
Helder,  though  he  had  then  entirely  ceased  to  be  an  invader,  and 
appears  to  have  very  properly  confined  his  wishes  to  the  safe 
bi'inging-off  of  his  army,  the  republican  generals  Brune  (the  "  prin- 
ter's boy  of  Limosin")  and  Daendals,  insisted  upon  the  surrender, 
to  France  and  Holland,  of  eight  thousand  of  their  seamen,  who 
were  then  prisoners  of  war  in  England  ;  this  they  insisted  upon 
"  as  the  price  of  permission  to  the  British  troops,  with  whom  the 


Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq.  9T 

fluke  of  York  had  invaded  Holland,  to  re-embark  on  board  their 
tran&ports  without  molestation" 

This  was  a  compensation  for  injury,  not  done,  but  attempted. 
If  the  rojal  commander  had  said,  <;  I  have  stopped  ;  I  have 
censed ;  I  am  going  away  ;  what  more  do  you  want  /"" — If  he  had 
thus  addresse  i  the  republican  generals,  they  would  have  thought 
him  cracked  in  the  brain.  His  Royal  Highness  knew  a  great 
deal  betier.  He  took  the  effectual  way  of  giving  his  opponents 
satisfaction,  and  thus  he  was  enabled  to  bring  off  his  army  without 
molestation. 

Here,  then,  sir,  are  two  instances  of  the  soundness  of  the  Ame- 
rican doctrine  ;  that  a  mere  cessation  of  an  offensive  act  is  not,  as 
a  matter  of  course,  deemed  a  satisfaction  to  the  party  offended. 
Nay,  in  my  case,  that  was  single  ;  it  was  committed  in  a  moment ; 
it  at  once  ceased  ;  there  was  no  remonstrance  ;  no  expostulation ; 
the  single  act  was  seized  hold  of,  and  my  printer  and  publisher, 
and  one  of  the  newsmen,  though  they  did  not  attempt  to  defend 
their  conduct,  but  confessed  their  crime,  declared  on  oath  that 
they  were  wholly  unconscious  that  they  were  publishing  a  libel,  and 
humbly  sued  for  mercy  ;  though  they  did  all  this,  yet  they  were 
all  imprisoned. 

Upon  what  principle,  then,  I  ask,  can  these  corrupt  writers 
imagine,  that  America  is  to  be  satisfied  with  the  mere  repeal 
of  our  Orders  in  Council  ;  that  is  to  say,  with  the  mere  ces- 
sation of  the  acts  offensive  to  her?  Upon  what  ground  is  it  that 
the  country,  in  which  the  proceedings  against  me  took  place,  can 
expect  this  at  her  hands  ?  I  do  not  say  that  we  were  doing  her 
wrong ;  I  do  not  take  upon  me  to  decide  that  question.  If  we 
were  not  doing  her  wrong,  however,  why  did  we  repeal?  If  we 
were  not  doing  her  wrong,  why  did  we  yield  at  her  menaces  ?  If 
we  were  not  doing  her  wrong,  we  should  not  have  given  way ; 
and  if  we  were  doing  her  wrong,  we  should  have  gone  further  ; 
for,  upon  the  principles  on  whiph  I  was  punished,  and  on  which 
the  sansculotte  generals  insisted  upon  your  royal  brother's  giving 
up  8000  prisoners  of  war  then  in  England;  upon  those  princi- 
ples, a  mere  cessation  f  o  do  what  gives  offence  is  not  considered  as 
a  sufficient  atonement  to  the  offended  party. 

The  President  of  the  United  States  has  seen  himself  ridiculed, 
and  most  grossly  abused  in  our  venal  newspapers,  who,  amongst 
other  qualities  not  more  to  be  admired,  have  ascribed  to  him  that 
of  cowardice.  Such  language  does  not  tend  to  harmony ;  and 
though  (thank  God  !)  Mr.  Madison  cannot,  by  his  obstinacy,  or  to 
indulge  any  old  grudge,  plunge  his  country  into  a  war ;  yet  he  cer- 
tainly has  the  power  to  render  the  way  to  peace  more  difficult.  I 
must,  however,  do  him  the  justice  to  say,  that  I  do  not  believe  him 
capable  of  imitating,  for  one  single  moment,  those  detestable  mis- 
creant?, whom  history  has  but  too  frequently  exhibited  in  the  act 

13 


98  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

of  rendering  millions  miserable  for  the  purpose  of  gratifying  some 
stupid,  some  idiot-like,  some  hog-like  passion.  But,  without  being 
under  any  such  influence,  and  without  supposing  any  very  strong 
prejudice  against  England  in  the  minds  of  the  people  of  America, 
there  are,  I  fear,  reasons  enough  to  induce  Mr.  Madison  to  be  in 
no  haste  to  listen  to  terms  of  peace. 

America  has  long  felt  the  power  of  England  ;  she  has  long  been 
Compelled  to  endure  that  which  she  detested  ;  she  is  covered 
with  scars  of  our  inflicting  ;  and  she  will  not  forget  all  this  now 
that  she  has  arms  in  her  bands.  1  have  before  pointed  out  to  your 
Royal  Highness  of  what  importance  it  is  to  her  that  we  should 
have  nothing  to  do  in  the  affairs  of  Spain.  The  war  in  Spain  is, 
in  fact,  more  fearful  to  America  when  it  is  most  promising  in  ap- 
pearance to  us.  She  will  never  rest  contented  while  there  is  u 
chance  of  our  having  any  influence  in  Spanish  South  America. 
Of  Napoleon  she  is  not  afraid  in  that  quarter.  Lie  has  no  fleet 
to  endanger  her  commerce ;  and,  besides,  her  present  exertions 
against  us  may,  perhaps,  secure  her  his  assent  to  her  wishes  on 
that  flank  of  her  territories. 

As  to  our  internal  situation,  she  is  well  aware  of  it.  The  army 
hi  Canada  is  not  better  known  to  her  than  the  army  in  the  "  dis- 
turbed counties."  Mr.  Madison  is  very  well  acquainted  with  the 
causes  of  our  disturbances ;  he  has  read  before  now  all  the  evi- 
dence taken  at  the  bar  of  parliament ;  he  has  seen  it  proved  that 
the  people  of  England  are  suffering  greatly  from  the  non-importa- 
tion of  their  goods  into  America;  he  is  well  aware  of  the  wants 
of  our  army  in  Spain,  Portugal,  and  the  Mediterranean  ;  and  he 
knows  that  a  war  with  his  country  must  soon  plunge  us  into  the 
greatest  distress. 

It  is  with  a  knowledge  of  all  these  that  Mr.  Madison  enters  on 
the  war ;  and  under  such  circumstances,  it  appears  to  me  impos- 
sible that  he  should  listen  to  any  terms  of  peace  not  including 
ample  indemnity  for  the  past.  The  American  prints  seem  to  insist 
upon  a  guarantee  for  the  release  of  the  American  seamen  whom 
we  have  impressed.  This,  I  should  hope,  there  would  be  no  ob- 
jection to;  and,  indeed,  1  hope  that  your  Royal  Ilighness's  minis- 
ters will  now,  at  the  eleventh  hour,  do  every  thing  in  their  power 
to  procure  us  the  restoration  of  honourable  peace  ;  1  hope  that 
England  is  not  doomed  to  wage  war  against  every  man  in  the  world 
who  is  in  the  enjoyment  of  real  liberty.  1  know,  sir,  that  there 
are,  in  England,  men  who  abhor  the  American  government  and 
people,  and  who  would,  if  they  had  the  power,  exterminate  them 
both,  merely  because  the  one  guarantees,  and  the  other  enjoys 
freedom.  Such  men  will  never  be  happy  while  they  see  a  freeman 
in  the  world :  but  their  malice  will  not  be  gratified  ;  they  will, 
though  it  blast  their  eye  sight,  still  see  the  Americans  free.  Such 
men  always  speak  of  America  with  disdain  ;  they  affect  to  con- 
sider her  as  nothing ;  they  seem  to  think  that  no  ceremony  is  ne 


Letters  of  William  Cobbetl,  Esq.  99 

cessary  with  her  ;  that  even  when  she  has  declared  war,  and  ha3 
actually  begun  war,  she  is  bound  to  leave  off  merely  upon  our 
ceasing  to  do  her  wrong,  if  wrong  it  be.  Such  men  would,  of 
course,  think  it  a  mortification  to  send  over  to  her  pacific  overtures, 
which  one  of  them  already  calls  suing  for  peace.  Far  from  your 
Royal  Highness  be  counsels  like  these!  This  was  the  language 
with  regard  to  the  republicans  of  France  ;  but  the  haughty  Pitt 
was  glad,  at  last,  to  be  permitted  to  send  overtures  of  peace  to 
those  republicans.  I  hope,  therefore,  that  we  shall,  in  this  case, 
be  wise  in  the  outset,  which  is  far  better  than  wisdom  at  the 
elose. 

The  whole  case  is  now  before  you,  sir;  war  or  peace  is  in  jour 
power  That  you  may  choose  the  latter  is  the  earnest  wish  of 
your  Royal  Highness's  faithful  servant, 

WiM.  COBBETT. 


AMERICAN  WAR. 

THIS  war,  as  appears  by  advices  from  America,  has  been  fur- 
ther marked  by  our  success  by  land,  and  our  failure  by  sea.  I 
will  not  call  it  disgrace,  or  defeat ;  but  an  American  sloop  of  war 
has  now  defeated  an  English  sloop  of  war  for  the  second  time. 
So  that,  owing  to  some  cause  or  other,  the  American  navy,  upon 
equal  terms,  really  seems  to  have  gained  the  superiority.  In  the 
meanwhile,  however,  it  is  stated,  that  through  the  means  of  the 
mediation  of  Russia,  an  opening  for  a  negotiation  for  peace  is 
likely  to  take  place.  But  from  the  language  of  our  vile  newspaper 
editors, 'who  appear  to  hate  the  Americans  for  no  other  cause 
than  that  they  are  not  slaves,  little  hope  seems  to  exist  of  a  happy 
result.  The  article  to  which  I  allude,  was  in  the  following 
words : 

"  Captain  Bedford,  as  we  stated  yesterday,  has  brought  the  of- 
ficial notification  of  an  offer  on  the  part  of  Russia  to  mediate  be- 
tween this  country  and  America.  We  hope  it  will  be  refused  ;  in- 
deed, we  are  sure  it  will.  We  have  the  highest  respect  for  the 
Russian  government,  the  warmest  admiration  of  its  prowess,  but 
we  have  a  love  for  our  naval  pre-eminence  that  cannot  bear  to 
have  it  even  touched  by  a  foreign  hand.  Russia,  too,  can  hardly 
be  supposed  to  be  very  adverse  to  the  principles  of  the  armed 
neutrality,  and  that  idea  alone  would  be  sufficient  to  make  us  de- 
cline the  offer.  But  without  discussing  that  point,  we  must  make 
our  stand  upon  this — never  to  commit  our  naval  rights  to  the 
mediation  of  any  power.  This  is  the  flag  we  must  nail  to  the 
national  mast,  and  go  down  rather  than  strike  it.  Before  the  war 
commenced  concessions  might  have  been  proper;  we  always 


100  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq, 

thought  it  unwise.  Bui  the  hour  of  concession  and  compromiss 
is  passed  :  America  has  rushed  unnecessarily  and  unnaturally 
into  war,  and  she  must  be  made  to  feel  {he  tffecls  of  her  folly  and 
injustice.  Peace  must  be  the  consequence  ol 'punishment,  and  re- 
traction of  her  insolent  demands  must  precede  negotiation.  The 
thunder  of  our  cannon  must  first  strike  terror  into  the  American 
shores,  and  Great  Britain  must  be  seen  and  felt,  in  all  the  majesty 
of  her  might,  from  Boston  to  Savannah,  from  the  lakes  of  Canada 
to  the  mouths  of  the  Mississippi.  And  before  this  article  goes 
forth  to  the  world,  her  cannon  have  been  heard,  and  her  power  felt. 
The  clamorous  demagogues  of  America,  the  turbulent  democrats, 
the  noisy  advocates  for  war  with  us,  the  pretended  patriots  of 
America,  and  the  real  partisans  of  France,  assume  now  another 
tone.  Their  papers  no  longer  speak  the  language  of  boast  and 
menace.  Fear  pervades  their  towns  on  the  seacoast — Alarm 
prevails  in  all  quarters.  They  a>e  more  intent  upon  moving  their 
property  than  in  making  head  against  the  danger  \  and  though 
they  boasted  that  they  would  support  government  with  all  their 
means  and  resources,  with  their  treasures  and  their  blood,  the 
government  cannot,  in  the  first  year  of  the  war,  raise  a  loan  of 
four  millions  sterling !  These  are  the  immediate  consequences  of  a 
war  entered  into  to  gratify  the  passions  of  hatred  and  envy  of  En- 
gland, and  to  propitiate  France." 

And  this  is  the  language  of  peace,  is  it?  It  would  seem,  that 
writers  like  this  feared  nothing  so  much  as  an  end  to  that  war, 
which  has  already  brought  more  disgrace  upon  the  British  navy 
than  all  the  wars  in  which  we  were  ever  before  engaged.  It 
would  really  seem  that  these  men  were  paid  to  endeavour  to  cause 
an  American  navy  to  be  created.  What  other  object  they  can 
have  in  view,  in  thus  goading  the  Americans  on  to  hostility  and 
hatred,  I  cannot  conceive ;  I  am  sure  that  the  Times  newspaper, 
by  its  senseless  abuse  of  Mr.  Madison  and  the  congress,  and  its 
insolent  and  contemptuous  language  towards  the  American  people, 
did  much  in  producing  this  fatal  war.  Paine  has  said  that  it  is  the 
last  feather  that  breaks  the  horse's  back  ;  and  would  it  be  any 
wonder,  if  this  base  print,  by  that  insolence,  those  taunting 
menaces,  in  which  it  dealt  a  few  months  before  the  war  was  de- 
clared, was  the  laat  feather  upon  the  occasion  ?  It  spoke  of  the 
Americans  and  their  navy  in  a  strain  of  contempt  not  to  be  endured. 
It  told  them  that  their  boasted  navy  should  be  towed  into  Halifax 
in  a  month  from  the  date  of  their  declaration  of  war.  It  said  that 
it  haled  other  enemies  of  England;  but  that  Mr.  Madison  and  hi$ 
nation  were  unwortljy  of  any  thing  but  contempt.  Jt  was  impos- 
sible for  any  nation  to  put  up  with  this.  Libels  the  most  atrocious 
were  published  against  Mr.  Madison  and  all  his  brother  officers 
in  the  governmen1.  The  naval  officers  of  America  were  spoken 
of  as  if  they  were  dogs,  In  that  country  the  people  have  some- 


Ldlers  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  101 

thing  to  say  as  to  public  affairs ;  and  is  it  any  wonder  that  such 
publications  should  produce  an  effect  amongst  them,  who  read 
every  thing,  and  who  well  understand  what  they  read  ?  The  Pre- 
sident, we  find,  has  instantly,  and  with  great  avidity,  accepted 
the  mediation  of  Russia.  He  is  a  very  plain  man.  Wears,  or 
used  to  wear,  a  grey  coat,  and  his  no  powdered  hair  very  smooth. 
He  had  no  big  wig,  nor  any  gowns,  or  any  other  fine  thing  upon  him 
But  he  seems  to  know  very  well  what  he  is  about.  Indeed,  all 
he  has  to  know,  is,  what  the  people  wish,  and  that  he  knows  by 
their  votes.  He  knows  that  they  hate  war,  as  the  great  and 
fruitful  parent  of  taxation  and  arbitrary  power  ;  and  to  please  them, 
he  must  avail  himself  of  every  thing  that  offers,  even  a  chance  of 
putting  an  end  to  the  war  on  just  and  honourable  terms. 

Bu{,  aa  you  see,  our  hirelings  exclaim  against  the  acceptance  of 
any  mediation  ;  even  the  mediation  of  Russia,  who  has  committed 
her  fleets  to  our  hands.  For  once  let  us  hope  that  these  men  do 
not  speak  the  language  of  the  government.  If  we  refuse  the  me- 
diation of  our  own  ajly  in  the  war:  if  we  refuse  the  mediation  of 
that  power,  who,  we  say,  is  about  to  deliver  Europe,  and  us,  froi» 
the  fears  of  Buonaparte,  what  will  that  power — what  will  the  world 
say  of  our  cause  ?  We  are  not,  it  seems,  "  to  commit  our  niivd- 
rights  to  the  mediation  of  any  power."  But  this  is  not  proposed. 
The  Americans  do  not  dispute  any  thing  heretofore  acknowledge! 
by  them,  or  contended  for  by  us,  as  a  right.  The  thing  we  cor- 
tend  for  is,  the  practice  of  impressing  persons  on  board  neutrcl 
ships  on  the  high  seas.  This  the  Americans  deny  to  be  a  right. 
They  say  that  it  never  was  before  practised,  or  contended  for,  or 
claimed,  by  any  belligerent  nation  ;  they  say,  that  by  no  writer 
on  public  law;  by  no  principle  ever  laid  down  by  such  writer; 
by  no  practice;  by  no  recognition  of  any  power;  by  n<> 
assertion  of  ours,  is  this  act  justified.  In  short,  they  say  that 
it  has  neither  law,  precedent,  nor  reason  for  its  basis.  If  they  as- 
sert, in  this  respect,  what  is  not  true,  why  not  prove  it  ?  Why  not 
cite  us  the  book,  the  treaty,  the  public  document,  the  principle, 
the  precedent,  upon  which  we  ground  this  practice  ?  No  one  at- 
tempts to  do  this ;  and  until  it  be  done,  what  impudence  is  it  to 
say  that  we  possess  such  a  right ! 

Agreeably  to  all  the  principles  of  jurisprudence,  when  a  man 
claims  a  right  to  do  that  which  is,  on  the  face  of  the  thing,  a  trespass 
upon  another  man,  he  must  first  prove  his  right.  There  may  be 
in  John  a  right  to  pass  across  the  field  of  James;  but  having  now, 
for  the  first  time,  begun  to  exercise  this  right,  it  is  incumbent  upon 
him  to  prove  it  in  the  way  of  defence  against  an  action  of  trespass ; 
and,  if  he  cannot  prove  it;  if  he  can  show  neither  written  deeds, 
nor  bring  evidence  of  precedent  or  custom,  he  suffers  as  a  tres- 
passer. Apply  this  to  the  case  before  us,  and  will  any  one  say, 
that,  in  order  to  justify  a  war  for  such  a  practice,  we  ought  not  to 


102  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

Jproduce  something  in  proof  of  our  right?  I  am  for  giving  up  no 
'naval  right  of  England  ;  and  if  any  one  will  show  me  any  treaty, 
any  declaration  of  any  power,  any  recognition,  any  maxim  of 
any  writer  upon  the  public  law,  or  any  custom  or  precedent 
of  any  power  in  the  whole  world,  to  justify  our  impressment  of 
persons  on  board  of  neutral  ships  on  the  high  seas,  I  will  say,  that 
<W  last  shot  ought  to  be  fired,  rather  than  cease  our  practice  of 
impressment.  Can  I  say  more?  Can  1  go  further?  Will  justice 
or  reason  allow  me  to  go  further  than  this?  The  Americans  will 
iay,  that  I  go  much  too  far ;  but  I  am  quite  Englishman  enough 
to  go  this  length  Further,  however,  I  will  not  go,  call  me  what 
the  hirelings  will. 

Is  it  not  a  little  too  much  in  this  writer  to  talk  about  concessions, 
as  demanded  by  America?  She  asks  (I  repeat  it  for  about  the 
fcundredth  time)  for  wo  concessions.  She  says  we  are  trespassing 
»pon  her,  and  we,  without  any  attempt  to  prove  that  we  are  not 
frespassing,  accuse  her  of  demanding  concessions,  because  she 
asks  us  to  cease  what  she  deems  a  trespass.  I  really,  upon  no 
point,  ever  observed  these  prints  more  base  and  impudent  than 
they  are  upon  this.  It  is  so  plain  a  case.  America  complains 
Of  a  most  injurious  trespass;  we  call  it  the  exercise  of  a  right ;  she 
replies,  prove  your  right ;  and  we  rejoin  by  accusing  her  of  de- 
manding concessions.  However,  she  is  now,  it  seems,  to  be  pun- 
ished. That  word  will  go  backwards  down  the  throats  of  those 
who  have  made  use  of  it.  "  Punishment"  is  to  precede  peace  with 
her.  Poor,  foolish  wretch,  who  has  written  or  dictated  this  para- 
graph !  She  is  to  be  punished,  and  she  is  to  retract,  before  we  ne- 
gotiate for  peace  with  her !  1  beg  the  reader  to  bear  this  threat  in 
his  mind.  Whether  he  does  or  not,  it  will  not  be  soon  forgotten 
in  America,  where,  we  may  be  well  assured,  that  the  bombarding 
of  a  few  towns  will  have  no  other  eflect  than  that  of  rendering 
the  contest  more  bitter,  and  of  completing  the  commercial  separa- 
tion of  the  two  countries.  Perhaps,  among  the  things  most  wished 
for  by  the  bitterest  enemies  of  England  in  America,  is  the  burning 
of  a  seaport  or  two.  The  loss,  would  be  trifling  in  compari- 
son with  the  advantage  to  those  who  wish  to  cut  the  two  countries 
asunder  for  ever.  "Fear!"  "Alarm!'*  W7hat  alarm  are  they 
in?  Those  who  know  them,  know  how  small  a  sacrifice  the  knock- 
ing down  a  town  would  be.  The  country  is  a  country  of  plenty. 
There  is  more  food  than  the  people  want.  It  is  not,  as  in  Russia, 
where  famine  follows  war.  To  be  sure,  the  inhabitants  of  the 
towns  which  are  in  danger  must  experience  alarm  :  but  what  has 
this  to  do  with  the  whole  country;  and  what  gain  will  it  be  to  us? 
we  shall  have  expended  some  scores  of  thousands  of  pounds  in  the 
undertaking,  and  we  shall  have  enemies  for  ever  of  many  who  were 
not  our  enemies  before. 


Letters  of  William  Colbett,  Esq.  103 

In  the  mean  while,  whatever  this  writer  may  say  about  the 
loan  in  America,  ships  of  war  will  be  built;  a  navy  will  grow  up; 
seamen  will  be  formed  in  great  numbers  ;  and  let  peace  take  place 
whenever  it  may,  we  shall  have  created  a  formidable  rival  on  the 
ocean.  Nor  are  we  to  suppose,  if  the  war  continues,  that  a  closer 
connexion  will  not  take  place  between  America  and  France. 
Haherto  the  war  on  our  part  has  not  had  that  effect.  The  Ame- 
rican government,  as  if  to  give  the  lie  to  our  insolent  writers,  has 
formed  no  connexion  at  all  with  France;  but,  is  it  likely,  that  if 
the  war  continue,  and  the  desire  of  revenge  increase,  some  con- 
nexion will  not  be  formed  with  France  ?  With  whom  is  America 
to  aily  herself  but  with  our  enemy,  who  has  ships  in  abundance, 
which  has  not,  and  only  wants,  just  those  very  sailors  of  which  she 
has  too  many  ?  This  would  give  her  at  once  a  navy  without  a 
loan  ;  or,  which  would  be  better  for  her,  the  use  of  a  navy  during 
war,  without  the  encumbrance  of  it  during  peace.  Would  these 
spiteful  and  silly  writers  like  to  see  Decatur,  and  Hull,  and  Bain- 
bridge,  on  board  French  ships  of  the  line  ?  Would  they  like  to 
see  a  fleet  of  nine  or  ten  sail  manned  with  the  same  sort  of  stuff 
that  fired  on  the  Java  from  the  Constitution  ?  My  opinion  is,  that 
if  the  war  continue  another  year,  they  will  see  this :  and  yet 
they  have  the  audacity,  or  the  stupidity,  to  say,  in  print,  that 
they  hope  the  mediation  of  Russia  will  be  rejected  by  our  minis- 
ters.' It  has  always  been  my  fear,  and  I  long  before  the  war  ex- 
pressed it,  that  it  would  produce  a  connexion  of  this  kind  with 
France :  and  if  such  connexion  has  not  already  taken  place,  it  has, 
perhaps,  been  owing  solely  to  the  fear  of  giving  a  handle  to  the 
English  party  in  the  states. 

If,  however,  we  carry  on  a  war  of  bombardment,  that  partj 
will,  in  a  short  time,  have  no  weight  at  all ;  and  the  thirst  for  re- 
venge will  produce  that,  which,  under  the  influence  of  less  hostile 
passions,  might  still  have  remained  an  object  of  jealousy.  To  see 
a  fleet  under  the  allied  banners  of  France  and  America,  would  be 
to  me  a  most  fearful  object.  I  am  convinced  it  would  present 
greater  dangers  to  us  than  we  have  ever  yet  had  to  contemplate ; 
and,  therefore,  I  read  with  indignation  and  abhorrence  all  these 
endeavours  of  English  writers  to  exasperate  the  people  of  Ameri- 
ca. I  have  never  believed  that  the  crews  of  the  ships  by  which 
our  frigates  have  been  beaten  were  British  sailors;  I  have  always 
believed  them  to  have  been  native  Americans,  and  I  still  believe 
it.  But  if,  as  our  hired  writers  have  asserted,  they  were  our  own 
countrymen,  what  is  to  hinder  the  ships  of  France  to  be  manned 
in  the  same  way  ?  The  British  sailors,  who  are  now,  if  there  be 
any,  fighting  against  their  own  country  in  American  ships,  will,  of 
course,  be  as  ready  to  follow  their  commanders  to  French  ships ; 
and,  if  that  were  to  be  the  case,  this  war,  for  the  practice  of  im- 
pressment, would  have  answered  a  most  serious  end  indeed 


104  Letters  of  William  Cobbdt,  Esq. 

By  a  stroke  of  address  not  without  a  precedent  in  the  history 
of  our  cabinet,  we  have  got  into  a  war  with  America  upon  the 
worst  possible  ground  for  us.  We  talk  about  the  maintenance  of 
our  maritime  rights  ;  and  this  does  very  well  with  the  people  at 
large.  "  What !"  say  they,  "  America  wants  to  rob  us  of  our 
maritime  rights!"  But  what  is  this  right?  Suppose  it,  for  argu- 
ment's sake,  to  be  a  right,  what  is  it  ?  It  is  the  right  of  impressing 
people  in  American  ships  on  the  high  seas.  But,  still  to  narrow 
it;  it  is  the  maritime  right  of  impressing ;  and  impressing  w/iom.? 
Why,  British  seamen.  One  would  think  that  this  should  have 
been  the  last  ground  on  which  to  make  or  meet  a  war.  It  is  utter- 
ly impossible  to  devest  one's  self  of  the  idea  which  this  conveys  ; 
and  equally  impossible  not  to  perceive  the  effect  which  must  be 
produced  by  it  in  the  sailor's  rain<l.  For  either  our  navy 
does  contain  considerable  numbers  of  seamen  who  wish  to  seek 
and  find  shelter  under  the  American  flag,  or  it  does  not.  If  it 
does  not,  why  go  to  war  with  her  for  this  right  of  impressing  them  7 
If  it  does,  how  must  these  same  seamen  feel  as  to  the  cause  in 
which  they  are  engaged  ?  I  fancy  this  is  a  dilemma  that  would 
hamper  almost  any  of  the  partisans  of  the  American  war.  I  have 
always  been  disposed  to  believe,  notwithstanding  the  assertions  to 
the  contrary,  that  our  seamen  have  not  gone  over  to  the  Ameri- 
cans in  any  considerable  number  ;  but  if,  unhappily,  I  am  deceiv- 
ed, I  am  quite  sure  that  this  war  will  have  a  strong  tendency  to 
aggravate  the  evil. 


TO  THE  PRINCE  KEGENT. 

Stft 

DURING  the  two  years  that  I  was  imprisoned  in  Newgate, 
for  writing  and  publishing  an  article  upon  the  flogging  of  certain 
English  militiamen,  at  Ely,  in  England,  under  the  superintendence 
of  German  troops,  and  for  which  writing  and  publishing  I,  besides, 
paid  your  Royal  Highness  a  fine  of  a  thousand  pounds,  in  behalf 
of  your  royal  sire ;  during  that  time  I  endeavoured,  in  various 
ways,  to  expiate  my  offence,  but  in  no  way  more  strenuously  than 
in  trying  to  dissuade  you  from  yielding  to  advice,  which,  as  I 
thought,  would,  if  followed,  produce  a  war  with  the  American 
states.  That  consequence,  which  I  so  much  dreaded,  and  which 
I  laboured  with  so  much  earnestness  to  prevent,  has  unhappily 
taken  place ;  and,  though  it  may  be  of  no  service,  though  my 
efforts  may  still  be  unavailing — nay,  though  I  may  receive  abuse 
instead  of  thanks  for  my  pains,  I  cannot  refrain — the  love  I  bear 
my  own  country,  and  the  regard  I  shall  ever  bear  a  great  part  of 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  105 

the  people  of  America,  will  not  suffer  me  to  refrain  from  making 
one  more  trial  to  convince  your  Royal  Highness,  that  the  path  of 
peace  is  sfiil  fairly  open  with  that  country,  and  that  pacific  mea- 
sures are  the  only  measures  which  oughf  even  now  to  be  pursued. 

In  one  of  my  letters  to  your  Royal  Highness  I  endeavoured  to 
convince  you,  that  it  was  to  the  base,  the  prostituted  press  of 
England,  that  we  were  likely  to  owe- this  war;  I  pointed  out  to 
your  Royal  Highness  the  means  resorted  to  by  that  press  in  order 
to  deceive  the  people  of  England ;  and  I  expressed  my  appre- 
hensions, that  these  means  wouid  succeed.  That  press,  that  vile 
and  infamous  press,  which  is  (he  great  enemy  of  the  liberties  of 
Europe  and  America,  as  well  as  of  England,  was  incessant  in  its 
efforts  to  cause  it  to  be  believed,  that,  in  no  case,  would  the  Ame- 
rican government  dare  to  go  to  war.  It  asserted  that  America  would 
be  totally  ruined  by  six  months  of  war;  that  the  people  would  not 
pay  tiie  taxes  necessary  to  carry  it  on;  that  the  President,  for  only 
barely  talking  of  war,  would  be  put  out  of  his  chair;  that  the 
"  American  navy"  as  it  was  called  by  way  of  ridicule,  would 
be  "  swept  from  the  ocean  in  a  month  :"  and  that,  in  short,  a  war 
with  America  was  a  thing  for  Englishmen  to  laugh  at;  a  subject  of 
jest  and  mockery. 

This  was  the  style  and  tone  of  the  hireling  press  in  London, 
and,  with  very  few  exceptions,  the  country  prints  followed  Uie 
stupid  and  insolent  example.  Events  have  already  siiown  how 
false  all  these  assertions  were;  and  now,  as  is  its  usual  practice, 
this  same  corrupt  press  is  pouring  forth  new  falsehoods,  with  a 
view  of  urging  on  the  war,  and  of  reconciling  the  people  to  its 
calamities. 

It  was  my.  endeavour  to  show  your  Royal  Highness  the  real 
state  of  the  case.  I  said,  that  the  people  of  America,  though 
wisely  averse  to  war,  as  the  great  source  of  taxation  and  loss 
of  liberty,  would,  nevertheless,  submit  to  its  inconveniences  rather 
than  submit  to  the  terms  which  it  was  recommended,  in  our  hire- 
ling prints,  to  impose  upon  them.  I  begged  your  Royal  Highness 
to  disbelieve  those  who  said  that  the  American  government  dared 
not  go  to  war,  and  that  Mr.  Madison  would  not  be  re-elected.  I 
besought  you  to  reflect,  upon  the  consequences  of  rushing  into  a 
war  with  that  country,  amongst  which  consequences  I  included  the 
forming  of  a  great  naval  force  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic, 
and  ihe  not  less  tearful  measure  of  manning  a  French  fleet  with 
American  sailors.  Our  hired  presses  affect  to  turn  into  jest  a 
proportion  said  to  have  been  made  by  the  President  for  the  build- 
ing of  twenty  frigates.  If  he  has  made  that  proposition,  however, 
and  if  the  war  continue  only  one  year,  your  Royal  Highness  will 
find  that  the  twenty  frigates  are  launched  upon  the  ocean.  The 
ignorant  and  saucy  writers  in  London,  who  live  up  to  their  lips  in 
luxury,  and  whose  gains  are  not  at  all  dependant  upon  the  pros- 

14 


106  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

purify  of  the  country  ;  these  men  rare  not  how  the  people  suffer^ 
Tneir  object  is  to  prolong  the  war,  which  suits  the  views  of  those 
with  whom  they  are  connected.  They  assert  whatever  presents 
itseif  as  likely  to  promote  this  object,  and,  therefore,  they  take  no 
|t;iin#  to  ascertain  whether  the  building  of  twenty  frigates  is,  or  is 
nol,  a  matter  of  easy  execution  in  America.  Jf  they  did,  tiiey 
would  find,  that  the  Americans  have  the  timber,  the  iron,  the  pitch, 
the  hemp,  all  of  the  produce  of  their  own  country ;  all  in  nbun- 
dance  ;  all,  of  course,  cheap  ;  and  as  to  dock-yards,  and  other  pla- 
ces (o  build  ships,  inquiry  would  teach  these  ignorant  and  inso- 
lent men,  that,  in  many  cases,  the  timber  grows  upon  the  v<>ry 
spot  where  the  ship  is  to  be  built,  and  that  to  cut  it  down  and 
convert  it  into  a  ship  is  doing  a  great  benefit  to  the  owner  of  ihe 
land 

And,  then,  as  to  the  pecuniary  means,  to  hear  the  language  of 
our  hirelings,  one  would  imagine  that  the  people  of  America  were 
all  b<ggars  ;  that  the  country  contained  scarcely  a  man  o?  pro- 
perty ;  that  there  were  no  such  things  as  money,  house  u.uods, 
cattle,  manufactures.  They  must,  indeed,  confess  that  the  coun- 
try grows  corn;  but  somehow  or  other,  they  would  have  us  be- 
lieve, that  there  are,  in  America,  no  means,  no  resources.  They 
cannot  disguise  from  us  the  fact,  that  there  are  fine  cities-  and 
to'.uis;  that  there  is  a  commercial  marine  not  far  behind  our  own 
in  point  of  magnitude  ;  that  the  exports  from  the  country  amount 
annually  fo  more  than  half  as  much  as  our  exports,  and  that  they 
consist  of  articles  of  first  necessity;  that  the  country  contains  all 
Ihe  articles  of  useful  manufactory,  and  that  manufactures  are  ma- 
king great  progress  ;  nay,  that  they  have  arrived  at  great  perfec- 
tion; that  the  country  H  stocked  with  sheep,  that  great  source  of 
a  nation's  wealth,  and  that  to  so  high  a  degree  have  these  animals 
succeeded,  that  many  single  proprietors  have  already  flocks  of 
more  than  a  thousand  head.  These  facts  the  hired  press  cannot, 
disguise  from  us;  or,  at  least,  from  those  amongst  us, who  are  not 
wilfully  blind.  Upon  what  ground,  then,  sir,  would  they  have  us 
believe,  that  America  is  ('estitute  of  resources?  The  things  which 
I  have  here  spoken  of,  are  things  of  which  national  riches  consist ; 
the^  form  the  means  of  making  national  exertions ;  of  sending  forth 
fleets  and  armies.  And  we  ought  to  bear  in  mind,  that  Araenca, 
thu!  this  new  enemy  of  ours,  has  a  population  of  more  than  eiglti 
millions  of  souls,  none  of  whom  are  paupers,  none  of  whom  are 
clad  in  rags;  none  of  whom  are  without  me-'tt  upon  their  table 
daily  ;  not  one  soul  of  whom  would  condescend  to  pull  off  his  hat 
to  any  human  being.  And  this  is  the  nation,  a  nation,  too,  de- 
scended from  ourselves,  that  the  hirelings  of  the  London  press 
represent  as  destitute  of  resources  ! 

Perhaps,  sir,  (he  resources  of  America  are  estimated  according 
to  the  salaries  which  their  public  functionaries  receive — and,  mea- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

sured  by  this  standard,  our  new  enemy  must,  indeed,  appear 
wholly  tingle  to  contend  against  us  for  a  single  day  ;  for  the  pre- 
sident, the  vice  president,  the  secretaries  of  state,  the  treasury, 
war,  navy,  and  all  their  clerks ;  that  is  to  say,  the  whole  of  the 
officers  of  the  executive  government,  do  not  receive  more  than 
abom  half  the  amount  of  Lord  Arden's  sinecure,  as  stated  in  the 
report  to  the  house  of  co:umons  in  1 JJ03.  Nay,  the  apothecary  In 
our  army  does,  according  to  the  same  report,  receive,  in  clear 
profits,  annually,  as  much  as  twice  the  amount  of  the  salary  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States.  Our  chief  justice,  in  ftalary  and 
emoluments,  as  stated  in  the  reports  laid  before  parliament,  re- 
ceives annually  a  great  deal  more  than  Mr.  Madison,  Mr.  Monroe, 
Mr.  Gallatin,  and  the  secretaries  of  the  war  and  the  navy  in  Ame- 
rica, ali  put  together.  1  shall,  perhaps,  be  told  that  our  ptibli* 
functionaries  ongh!  to  receive  more  than  those  of  America.  That 
is  a  point  which  I  shall  leave  for  others  to  dispute.  I  content 
myself  with  slating  the  facts;  but  if  I  am  told,  that  we  ought  not 
to  measure  the  salaries  of  our  functionaries  by  the  American  stand- 
ard. I  must  beg  le-tve,  in  my  turn,  to  protest  against  measuring  the 
expenses  of  war  in  America  by  the  standard  of  war  expenses  in 
England.  I  must  insist,  too,  that  the  resources  of  a  country  are 
not  to  be  measured  by  the  standard  of  the  salaries  of  its  pubhV 
functionaries.  I  should  take  quite  a  different  standard  for  the 
measuring  of  the  resources  of  America.  WV-  know  that  upon  a 
population  of  ten  millions,  in  Great  Britain,  a  revenue  of  about 
eighty  millions  of  pounds  is  now  annually  rained— ~and  that,  in 
these  ten  millions  of  people,  we  include,  at  least,  trvo  millions  of 
paupers.  Now,  then,  if  they  raise  but  a  tenth  part  as  much  upon 
the  eight  million*  of  Americans,  who  have  no  paupers  amongst 
them,  their  eight  millions  will  be  four  times  as  much  as  was  eve. 
yet  raised  in  the  country  in  any  one  year ;  and  it  is,  I  (hink,  not 
too  much  to  suppose,  that  an  American  will  bear  a  knih  part  as 
much  taxes  as  an  Englishman,  in  the  prosecution  of*  a  war  declared 
by  the  vote  of  represent  alines  freely  chosen  by  the- people  at  large. 
Eight  millions  of  pounds  sterling,  raised  for  three  or  four  succes- 
sive years,  would  build  a  navy,  that  I  should,  and  that  I  do,  con- 
template with  great  uneasiness;  for,  as  1  once  before  had  the  ho- 
nour to  state  to  your  Royal  Highness,  the  Auiericai>sa?ea3  good 
iailors  as  any  that  the  world  ever  saw.  It  is  notorious  that  the 
American  merchant  ships  sail  with  fewer  hands,  in  proportion  to 
their  size,  than  the  merchant  ships  of  any  other  nation-;  the  Ame- 
ricans are  active  in  their  persons;  they  are  enterprising;  they 
are  brave  ;  and,  which  is  of  vast  consequence,  they  are,  from 
education  and  almost  from  constitution,  SOBKH,  a  virtue  not  at  ali 
less  valuable  in  an  army  or  a  fleet  than  it  is  in  domestic  life. 

This,  sir,   is  a  view  of  the   means  and  resources  of  America-, 
very  different,  perhaps,  from  tlie,  views  whicbsouie  persona  uijght 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

be  disposed  to  present  to  your  Royal  Highness ;  and  if  this,  my 
view  ol  the  matter,  be  correct,  it  surely  becomes  us  to  be  very 
cauliotis  how  we  force  these  resources  into  action,  and  set  them 
in  array  against  us,  backed,  as  they  will  be,  with  the  implacable 
hatred  of  the  American  people.  If,  indeed,  the  honour  of  Eng- 
land required  the  setting  of  these  resources  at  defiance;  if  Eng- 
land must  either  confess  her  disgrace  ;  mast  basely  abandon  her 
known  rights  ;  must  knuckle  down  (o  America,  or  brave  the  con- 
sequences of  what  1  have  been  speaking  of;  I  should  then  say,  to 
the  words  of  the  old  Norman  proverb,  (adopted  by  the  French  in 
answer  to  the  duke  of  Brunswick's  proclamation,)  <k  let  honour  be 
maintained,  happen  what  will" 

But,  sir,  the  question  :  Does  the  honour  of  England  require  the 
making  of  this  perilous  experiment?  In  my  opinion  it  does  not; 
and  I  now,  vith  the  most  anxious  hope,  that,  at  last,  they  may  be 
attended  with  some  effect,  proceed  respectfully  to  submit  to  your 
Royal  Highness  the  reasons  upon  which  this  opinion  is  founded. 

The  dispute,  with  regard  to  the  Orders  in  Council,  I  look  upon 
as  being  at  an  end  ;  for,  though  all  is  not  quite  clear  in  that  re- 
spect, an  arrangement  seems  to  be  matter  of  little  difficulty.  But, 
as  I  am  sure  your  Royal  Highness  will  do  me  the  honour  to  recol- 
lect, I  took  the  liberty  to  warn  the  public,  that  the  very  week  that 
the  Orders  in  Council  were  done  away,  that  that  measure  alont 
would  do  nothing  towards  preventing  war  with  America.  1  then 
jsaid,  and  in  the  most  distinct  terms,  and  without  any  hesitation,  that 
America  would  never  be  content  without  a  complete  abandon- 
ment, on  our  part,  of  the  practice  of  seizing  persons  on  board  her 
ships  upon  the  high  seas.  1  formed  this  opinion  upon  the  general 
tone  of  the  American  prints  ;  upon  the  declaration  of  the  congress  ; 
and  especially  upon  information  contained  in  letters  received  from 
iriends  in  America,  in  whose  hearts,  strange  as  it  may  appear  to 
some,  my  imprisonment  in  Newgate  seems  to  have  revived  former 
feelings  towards  me.  These  letters,  written  by  persons  (be  it  ob- 
served) strongly  attached  to  England,  for  no  others  did  I  ever 
number  amongst  my  friends  ;  these  letters  assured  me,  tJiat  the 
people  of  America,  not  the  government,  not  "a  faction,"  as  our 
hirelings  have  called  them  ;  that  the  people  of  America,  from  one 
end  of  the  country  to  the  other,  cried  for  war  in  preference  to  lon- 
ger submission  to  the  stopping  of  their  vessels  on  the  high  seas, 
and  taking  persons  out  of  them,  at  the  discretion  of  our  officers. 
Upon  this  information,  coming,  in  some  cases,  three  hundred  miles 
from  the  Atlantic  coasts,  I  could  safely  rely ;  and,  therefore,  1 
did  not  hesitate  to  pronounce,  that  the  repeal  of  the  Orders  in 
Council  alone  could  not  preserve  peace;  nor  was  I  alittle  surprised 
to  hear  Mr.  Brougham  declare,  that  if  that  measure  did  not  satisfy 
America,  he,  for  one,  would  support  a  war  against  her. 

The  question,  then,  is  now  reduced  to  this :  Does  the  honour 


•    Lexers  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  109 

of  England  demand  that  she  insist  upon  continuing  the  practice  of 
which  America  complains,  and  against  which  she  is  now  making 
war?  To  answer  this  question,  we  must  ascertain  whether  the 
practice  of  which  America  complains  be  sanctioned  by  the  usages 
of  the  nation;  whether  the  giving  of  it  up  would  be  to  yield  any 
known  right  of  England  ;  because,  in  the  case  of  the  affirmative, 
to  yield  would  be  to  make  a  sacrifice  of  our  honour,  rather  than 
which,  I  agree  that  we  ought  to  continue  the  war  to  the  last  extre- 
mity, it  being  much  less  disgraceful  to  submit  to  actual  force,  than 
to  submit  to  menaces. 

My  opinion  is,  however,  decidedly  in  the  negative ;  and  I  will 
not  disguise  from  your  Royal  Highness,  that  I  never  felt  surprise 
more  complete,  (to  give  my  feelings  no  stronger  appellation,)  than 
that  which  I  experienced  at  reading  the  following  passage  in 
the  letter  of  Lord  Castlereagh  to  Mr.  Russell,  of  the  '29th  August 
last  : 

"  I  cannot,  however,  refrain,  on  one  single  point,  from  expressing 
my  surprise ;  namely,  that,  as  a  condition,  preliminary  even  to  a 
suspension  of  hostilities,  the  government  of  the  United  States 
should  have  thought  fit  to  demand,  that  the  British  government 
should  desist  from  its  ancient  and  accustomed  practice  of  impress- 
ing British  seamen  from  the  merchant  ships  of  a  foreign  state, 
simply  on  the  assurance  that  a  law  shall  hereafter  be  passed  to 
prohibit  the  employment  of  British  seamen  in  the  public  or  com- 
mercial service  of  that  state.  The  British  government  now,  as 
heretofore,  is  ready  to  receive  from  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  and  amicably  to  discuss,  any  proposition  which  professes 
to  have  in  view  either  to  check  abuse  in  exercise  of  the  practice  of 
impressment,  or  to  accomplish,  by  means  less  liable  to  vexation, 
the  object  for  which  impressment  has  hitherto  been  found  neces- 
sary ;  but  they  cannot  consent  to  suspend  the  exercise  of  a  right 
upon  which  the  naval  strength  of  the  empire  mainly  depends,  un- 
til they  are  fully  convinced  that  means  can  be  devised,  and  will  be 
adopted,  by  which  the  object  to  be  obtained  by  the  exercise  of 
that  right  can  be  effectually  secured." 

Being  no  secretary  of  state  for  foreign  affairs,  I  shall,  I  trust, 
be  excused,  if  I  am  found  to  understand  less  of  the  "ancient  and 
accustomed  practice  of  Great  Britain  as  to  this  matter :  but,  sir, 
I  have  never  before  heard,  except  from  the  London  newspapers, 
that  Great  Britian  did  ever,  until  now,  attempt  to  take  persons  of 
any  description  out  of  neutral  vessels  sailing  upon  the  high  seas  ; 
;xnd  very  certain  I  am  that  such  a  practice  is  not  warranted,  nay, 
that  it  never  was  thought  of,  by  any  of  those  authors  who  have 
written  upon  public  law.  I  do  not  recollect  a  single  itisi-uice  in 
which  we  have  exercised  what  is  here  called  ft  right ;  and  if,  in 
the  abandonment  of  the  practice,  we  give  up  no  known  right  of 
England,  such  abandonment  can  be  no  dishonour;  unless,  which 


119  Letters  of  Willitm  Cobbett,  Esq. 

would  be  a  monstrous  proposition,  it  be  regarded  as  dishonourable 
to  cease  to  do  any  thing,  because  the  doing  of  it  has  been  the  sub- 
ject of  complaint  and  the  object  of  resistance. 

The  men  who  conduct  the  London  newspapers,  and  whose  lu- 
cubrations are  a  sore  affliction  to  their  native  country,  have  long 
been  charging  the  Americans  with  a  wish  to  make  England  give 
up  her  "  right  of  search."  Whether  this  falsehood  has  arisen  from 
sheer  ignorance,  or  from  that  impunity  in  deception,  or  rather  en- 
couragement to  deceive,  which  such  writers  have  so  experienced 
in  England,  I  will  not  take  upon  me  to  determine,  but  1  know  well 
that  ii  is  a  most  audacious  falsehood ;  I  know  that  America  has 
never  expressed  even  a  wish  to  make  us  give  up  "  the  right  of 
search;"  and  if  her  government  were  to  attempt  to  accomplish 
sur.h  an  end  by  war,  I  am  quite  sure  that  it  would  soon  lose  the 
support  of  the  people.  But  "  the  right  of  search"  is  not,  and 
never  has  been,  for  a  moment,  by  any  writer  on  public  law,  con- 
sidered as  a  right  to  search  for  persons,  except  indeed,  military 
persons,  and  those,  too,  openly  employed  in  the  enemy's  service. 
"  The  right  of  search"  is  a  right  possessed  by  a  belligerent  power 
to  search  for  and  to  seize  as  good  prize  any  articles  contraband  of 
war,  such  as  guns,  powder,  and  the  like,  which  may  be  on  board 
of  a  neutral  ship  going  to  an  enemy's  port ;  because,  by  carrying 
the  said  articles,  the  neutral  does  in  fact  aid  the  enemy  in  carry- 
ing on  the  war.  This  right  has  been  further  extended  to  any 
goods  belonging  to  an  enemy,  found  on  board  a  neutral  vessel ; 
because,  by  becoming  the  carrier  of  his  goods,  the  neutral  does, 
in  fact,  screen  his  goods,  as  far  as  possible,  from  capture,  and  does 
thereby  also  aid  the  enemy.  This  is  what  is  called  "  the  right 
of  search  ;"  a  right,  however,  which,  as  far  as  relates  to  goods,  has 
been  often  denied  by  neutral  powers,  and  which  w«  actually  gave 
up  to  the  threats  of  Russia,  Sweden,  and  Denmark,  towards  the 
end  of  the  latt  American  war. 

But  of  this  right,  of  710  p  irt  of  this  right,  do  the  Americans 
now  complain.  They  yield  to  the  exercise  of  this  right  in  all  its 
rigour.  But  they  deny  that  we  have  any  right  at  all — they 
deny  ihat  we  have  a  pretence  to  any  right— to  stop  their  vessels 
on  the  high  seas,  and  to  take  out  of  them  any  persons  whatever, 
unless,  indeed,  military  peisons  in  the  service  of  our  enemy ; 
and  I  repeat,  sir,  "that  I  know  of  no  usage  of  nations  ;  that  I  know 
of  no  ancient  usage  of  our  own  even ;  that  I  know  of  no  law, 
maxim,  principle  or  practice,  to  sanction  that  of  which  the  Ame- 
ricans complain,  and  in  resistance  of  which  they  are  now  armed 
and  at  war;  and,  therefore,  1  am  of  opinion,  that  to  abandon  this 
practice  would  be  no  dishonour  to  England. 

Lord  Castlereagh  talks  of  our  right  to  "  impress  British  -eamen 
fro;>i  ill-.-  merchant  ships  of  a  foreign  state."  Impressment  tuay 
take  place  in  our  ports  and  harbours,  if  confined  to  our  own 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  1 1 1 

men*  America  does  not  object  to  it*  It  is  upon  the  high  seas 
thai  she  objects  to  impressment ;  because  there  the  matter  must 
be  i.-tt  to  the  discretion  of  the  British  q$.  er.  It  is  there  a  mere 
mauer  of  power*  There  is  no  one  to  appeal  to;  there  is  no  um- 
pire ;  there  is  no  judge  to  look  into  proofs,  and  to  decide.  The 
searching  officer  may,  under  his  discretion,  take  out  as  many  men 
as/be  pleases — he  may  leave  the  ship  destitute  of  hands  necessary 
to  conduct  her  a  league ;  and  he  may  take  out  American  citizens 
as  well  as  English  subjects.  That  this  may  be  done  is  quite  cer- 
tain, because  it  has  been  done  in  countless  instances.  Thousands 
of  native  Americans,  thus  impressed,  have  been  released  by  our 
admiralty  on  the  official  application  of  the  American  agents ;  and, 
who  can  doubt  that  many  thousands  remain  unreleased?  General 
Lyiiian,  late  American  consul  in  London,  once  staled  in  a  report 
to  his  government,  that  there  were  about  14,000  native  Americans 
then  on  board  our  fleet,  who  had  been  impressed  from  on  board 
American  ships  on  the  high  seas.  He  might  possibly  exaggerate  ; 
but  if  is  riot  to  be  doubted  that  the  number  was,  and  has  been, 
very  considerable.  And  1  beg  your  Royal  Highness  to  take  a 
serious  view  of  the  great  hardships  experienced  by  Americans  thus 
mpressed.  Taken  from  their  lawful  and  peaceable  pursuits  ; 
dragged  into  a  service,  and  forced  under  a  discipline,  so  little  con- 
genial with  their  habits  and  their  prejudices;  wafted  away  to  sick- 
ly  climates,  exposed  to  all  the  dangers  of  battle,  taken,  perhaps 
for  ever,  from  the  sight  and  knowledge  of  their  homes  and  friends  ; 
and,  it,  by  ch:mce,  (for  it  can  be  nothing  more,)  restored,  at  last 
restored,  (as  has  often  been  the  case,)  with  the  loss  of  health  or 
of  limbs,  and  at  the  very  least,  with  the  loss  of  time,  and  that  too 
in  the  prime  of  their  lives;  and  carrying  about  them  for  the  re- 
mainder of  their  days,  feelings  towards  England  which  I  need  not 
attempt  to  describe. 

Your  Royal  Highness's  heart  will  tell  you,  I  hope,  much  better 
tiian  I  can,  not  what  is,  but  what  must  be  the  effect  of  such  a  prac- 
tice carried  on  against  a  people  who  are  not  only  the  children  of 
Englishmen,  but  of  (hose  Englishmen  who  preferred  freedom  in  a 
wilderness  across  the  ocean,  to  slavery  in  their  native  land.  That 
it  is,  sir,  that  has  at  last  kindled  the  flame  of  war  in  a  country 
where  the  very  name  of  war  was  too  hateful  to  be  endured. 

But  in  answer  to  all  this,  it  is  said,  by  Lord  Castlereagh,  that 
"  the  naval  strength  of  the  empire  mainly  depends"  upon  the 
continuation  of  this  practice  of  impressment.  That  is  to  say,  if 
we  take  the  whole  of  the  facts  into  view,  our  naval  strength  main- 
ly depends  upon  a  practice  which  exposes  so  many  of  the  Ame- 
rican citizen?  to  misery  and  ruin.  The  plain  meaning  of  our  per- 
severance in  she  practice  is  this:  that  if  we  do  not  continue  it, 
our  seamen  wiH  desert  to  the  American  ships  in  such  numbers  as 
to  leave  us  without  the  possibility  of  obtaining  a  sufficiency  of  men 


1 12  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

to  man  and  fight  our  fleet.  Supposing  this  to  be  the  fact,  it  really 
forms  no  justification  of  the  practice ;  for  we  can  have  no  right  to 
put  America  to  any  inconvenience  whatever,  merely  for  our  own 
benefit,  or  to  save  ourselyes  from  loss  or  danger.  The  President, 
however,  in  order  to  show  that  he  does  not  wish  us  to  receive  any 
injury  in  this  way,  and  in  order,  if  possible,  to  put  an  end  to  the 
war,  has  made  a  voluntary  offer  of  a  law  to  be  passed  in  America 
to  prevent  our  seamen  from  being  admitted  into  American  ships, 
upon  condition  that  we  will  first  abandon  our  practice  of  impress- 
ment, and  give  up,  that  is,  restore  to  their  liberty  those  native 
Americans  whom  we  have  already  impressed.  Mr.  Russell,  in 
his  letter  to  Lord  Castlereagh,  says : 

"  While,  however,  it  regards  this  course  as  the  only  one  which 
remained  for  it  to  pursue  with  a  hope  of  preserving  any  portion  of 
that  kind  of  character  which  constitutes  the  vital  strength  of  eve- 
ry nation,  yet  it  is  still  willing  to  give  another  proof  of  the  spirit 
which  has  uniformly  distinguished  its  proceedings,  by  seeking  to 
arrest,  on  terms  consistent  with  justice  and  honour,  the  calamities 
of  war.  It  has  therefore  authorized  me  to  stipulate  with  his  Bri- 
tannic majesty's  government  an  armistice,  to  commence  at  or  be- 
fore the  expiration  of  sixty  days  after  the  signature  of  the  instru- 
ment providing  for  it,  on  condition  that  the  Orders  in  Council  be 
repealed,  and  no  illegal  blockades  to  be  substituted  for  them,  and 
that  orders  be  immediately  given  to  discontinue  the  impressment 
of  persons  from  American  vessels,  and  to  restore  the  citizens  of 
the  United  States  already  impressed ;  it  being,  moreover,  well 
understood,  that  the  British  government  will  assent  to  enter  into 
definitive  arrangements  as  soon  as  may  be,  on  these  and  every 
other  difference,  by  a  treaty  to  be  concluded  either  at  London  or 
Washington,  as,  on  an  impartial  .consideration  of  existing  circum- 
stances, shall  be  deemed  most  expedient.  As  an  inducement  to 
Great  Britain  to  discontinue  the  practice  of  impressment  from 
American  vessels,  I  am  authorized  to  give  assurance  that  a  law 
shall  be  passed  (to  be  reciprocal)  to  prohibit  the  employment  of 
British  seamen  in  the  public  or  commercial  service  of  the  United 
States." 

Really,  sir,  it  is  not  possible,  it  appears  to  me,  to  suggest  any 
thing  more  reasonable  than  this.  I  can  form  an  idea  of  nothing 
more  strongly  expressive  of  a  desire  to  put  an  end  to  the  war. 
What !  shall  it  be  said  that  England  wages  a  war,  when  she  might 
terminate  it  by  such  means  ?  I  trust  not,  and  that  we  shall  not 
have  to  weep  over  a  much  longer  continuation  of  this  unfortunate 
contest. 

I  know  that  there  are  persons  who  treat  the  idea  of  a  law  passed 
by  the  congress  with  contempt.  But,  if  this  is  to  be  the  course 
pursued,  the  war  will  not  soon  have  an  end.  We  must  treat 
America  with  respect.  We  must  do  it ;  and  the  sooner  we  be- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbdt,  Esq.  113 

gin  the  better.  Some  of  the  impudent  hireling  writers  in  London 
affect  to  say,  that  no  credit  is  to  be  given  to  any  act  of  the  Ameri- 
can government  ;  that  our  officers  ought  not  to  believe  the  passports 
and  certificates  produced  by  the  American  seamen.  If  this  is  to 
be  the  tone,  and  if  we  are  to  act  accordingly,  there  is  no  possibili- 
ty of  making  peace  with  America.  Peace  implies  treaty  and  con- 
fidence ;  but  what  confidence  are  we  to  have  in  a  nation  such  as 
our  hirelings  describe  America  to  be  ?  This  arrogant,  this  inso- 
lent tone  must  be  dropped,  or  peace  is  impossible. 

The  fact  of  our  impressing  native  Americans  is  affected  to 
be  denied,  and  Lord  Castlereagh  does  not  notice  the  proposition 
to  restore  those  whom  we  have  already  impressed.  But,  sir,  if 
the  fact  were  not  perfectly  notorious,  that  thousands  have  been 
released  by  us,  the  letter  of  Captain  DACRES,  of  the  Guerriere,  re- 
moves all  doubt  upon  the  subject ;  for,  in  that  letter,  intended  to 
account  for  his  defeat  by  the  Constitution,  he  says,  that  PART  ov 
HIS  CREW  WERE  NATIVE  AMERICANS,  and  they  not  choosing  to 
fight  against  their  country,  he  suffered  them  to  be  inactive  spec- 
tators. Now,  here  we  have  'the  fact  clearly  acknowledged,  that 
we  had  Americans  unwillingly  serving  on  board.  And  what  a  la- 
mentable contrast  do  we  find  in  the  same  letter,  with  regard  to 
some  English  seamen  said  to  have  been  on  board  the  Constitu- 
tion ;  to  which  I  beg  leave  to  add,  for  your  most  serious  moment, 
the  fact,  (if  a  fact  it  be,)  that  part  of  the  crews  of  the  victorious 
American  ships,  the  Wasp  and  the  United  States,  were  English. 
Nay,  it  is  stated  in  the  Courier  newspaper,  upon  what  is  asserted 
to  be  good  authority,  that  two  thirds  of  the  crews  of  the  Ameri- 
can ships  of  war  are  English  seamen.  If  this  be  true,  it  is  ano- 
ther and  a  most  cogent  reason  for  acceding  to  the  terms  of  Ameri- 
ca, and  putting  an  end  to  the  war ;  for  the  longer  the  war  continues, 
the  longer  will  continue  a  connexion  from  which  such  fearful  con- 
sequences may  ensue. 

At  any  rate,  it  appears  to  me,  that  our  own  safety,  if  the  war  is 
to  be  continued,  will  dictate  the  discharging  of  all  the  impressed 
Americans  whom  we  may  have  on  board  of  our  ships.  Fight 
against  their  country  they  will  not,  unless  they  be  forced,  and  who 
is  to  foresee  and  provide  against  the  contagion  of  such  an  exam- 
ple ?  Against  this  evil,  however,  and  against  numerous  others, 
which  I  forbear  to  mention,  the  measure  proposed  by  the  Presi- 
dent would  completely  guard  us ;  and  the  respect  which  it  is  my 
duty  to  entertain  towards  your  Royal  Highness,  bids  me  hope 
that  that  proposition  will  finally  be  accepted. 

WILLIAM  COBBETT,. 
15 


114  Letters  of  William  C'obbelt,  Esq. 


AMERICAN  STATES. 

Mr  two  last  numbers  were  devoted  principally  to  the  task  of 
endeavouring  to  convince  the  Prince  Regent,  and  the  public,  (hat 
it  was  neither  dangerous  nor  dishonourable  to  yield  to  the  terms 
upon  which  we  might  have  had,  and  may  yet  have,  peace  with 
America  ;  and  to  my  great  mortification,  though,  I  must  confess, 
not  much  to  my  surprise,  I  now  see,  from  the  contents  of  the  last 
Gazette,  wherein  is  his  Royal  Highness's  "  declaration"  that  all 
my  endeavours  have  been  of  no  avail,  and  that  war,  long  and  ex- 
pensive, sanguinary  war,  will  now  take  place  with  an  enemy,  who, 
above  all  others,  is  capable  of  inflicting  deep  wounds  upon  this  al- 
ready crippled,  or,  at  least,  exhausted  nation.  From  the  first  pub- 
lication of  the  letters  which  passed  between  Lord  Wellington 
and  Mr.  Pinckney,  soon  after  the  French  had  announced  their 
intention  to  repeal  the  Berlin  and  Milan  Decrees ;  from  the  very 
day  of  that  publication,  which  took  place  soon  after  I  was  impri- 
soned in  Newgate  for  two  years,  (with  a  fine  TO  THE  KING,  which 
I  have  since  paid,  of  a  thousand  pounds,)  for  having  written  and 
published  upon  the  subject  of  flogging  certain  English  militia  men, 
at  the  town  of  Ely,  in  England,  who  had  been  first  reduced  to 
submission  by  German  troops  ;  from  the  very  day  of  that  publica- 
tion I  began  to  fear  the  present  sad  result  of  the  dispute  which  had 
then  assumed  a  new  and  more  serious  character  than  it  had  ever 
before  worn.  With  that  fear  in  my  rnind,  I  bent  all  my  feeble 
powers  towards  preventing  such  result.  1  have  failed  ;  opinions 
and  councils  the  direct  opposite  of  mine  have  prevailed  ;  and 
time  will  show  who  was  right  and  who  was  wrong. 

Upon  former  occasions,  the  real  grounds  of  war  have  but  too 
often  been  lost  sight  of  in  the  multitude  and  confusion  of  subse- 
quent events ;  the  government  had  the  address  to  enlist  the  pas- 
sions of  men  on  its  side,  and  the  voice  of  reason  has  been  stifled. 
But  here,  as  I  was  from  the  first  resolved  it  should  be,  there  is  a 
clear,  a  distinct,  an  undisguised  ground  before  our  eyes  ;  we  know 
well  what  we  are  at  war  for;  we  know,  and  must  bear  in  rnind, 
that  we  are  at  war  for  the  purpose  of  enforcing  our  practice  of 
stopping  American  vessels  upon  the  high  seas,  and  taking  out  of 
them  all  such  persons  as  our  naval  officers  may  deem  to  be  Bri- 
tish seamen.  This  is  now  to  become  the  clearly  defined  subject 
of  the  war  with  America,  The  "  DECLARATION,"  which  will  be 
found  below  inserted  at  full  length,  does  not  contain  any  new 
matter :  it  is  a  summary  of  what  our  ministers  have  before  alleged 
ami  asserted  in  their  correspondence  with  the  American  govern- 
ment and  its  divers  agents.  But  there  are  some  few  passages  of 
it  which  require  to  be  particularly  noticed.  The  question  relating 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.     . 

to  the  Orders  in  Council  has  been  before  so  amply  discussed,  in 
my  several  letters  and  articles  upon  the  subject,  that  I  will  not  en- 
cumber my  present  remarks  with  any  thing  relating  thereunto ; 
but  will  confine  myself  to  what  relates  to  the  impressment  of  per- 
sons out  of  American  ships  on  the  high  seas.  Upon  this  point 
the  "  declaration"  says : 

"  His  Royal  Highness  can  never  admit,  that  in  the  exercise  of  the 
undoubted,  and  hitherto  undisputed  right  of  searching  neutral  mer- 
chant vessels  in  time  of  war,  the  impressment  of  British  seamen, 
when  found  therein,  can  be  deemed  any  violation  of  a  neutral  flag. 
Neither  can  he  admit,  that  the  taking  such  seamen  from  on  board 
such  vessels,  can  be  considered  by  any  neutral  state  as  a  hostile 
measure,  or  a  justifiable  cause  of  war.  There  is  no  right  more 
clearly  established  than  the  right  which  a  sovereign  has  to  the 
allegiance  of  his  subjects,  more  especially  in  time  of  war.  Their 
allegiance  is  no  optional  duty,  which  they  can  decline  and  resume 
at  pleasure.  It  is  a  call  which  they  are  bound  to  obey  :  it  began 
with  their  birth,  and  can  only  terminate  with  their  existence.  If 
a  similarity  of  language  and  manners  may  make  the  exercise  of 
this  right  more  liable  to  partial  mistakes,  and  occasional  abuse, 
when  practised  towards  the  vessels  of  the  United  States,  the 
same  circumstances  make  it  also  a  right,  with  the  exercise  of 
which,  in  regard  to  such  vessels,  it  is  more  difficult  to  dispense." 

The  doctrine  of  allegiance,  as  here  laid  down,  I  admit,  with 
some  exceptions  ;  but  as  to  the  right  of  impressing  British  seamen 
on  the  high  seas,  out  of  neutral  ships,  I  deny  it  to  be  founded  on 
any  principle  or  maxim,  laid  down  by  any  writer  on  public 
law.  Indeed,  the  "declaration"  does  not  say  SBARCHINO  neu- 
tral vessels  in  time  of  war,  is  "undoubted,"  and  has  hitherto  been 
"undisputed.'9  This  is  not  correct;  for  not  only  has  even  this 
right  been  doubted  ;  not  only  are  there  two  opinions  about  it  in  the 
books  on  public  law,  but  the  writers  on  public  law  are,  for  the 
most  part,  against  the  said  rights  as  we  practise  it,  and  they  con- 
tend that  we  have  no  right  to  seize  enemy's  goods  on  board  of 
merchant  ships  which  are  neutral.  Nay,  the  contest  has  given 
rise  to  military  resistance  on  the  part  of  our  now  ally,  Russia, 
Denmark,  and  Sweden ;  and,  what  is  still  more,  Great  Britain 
ceased,  upon  their  threats,  to  exercise  this,  even  this,  right  of  seiz- 
ing enemy's  goods  on  board  of  neutral  ships  of  war.  But  this 
right  of  SEAKCHING  neutral  ships  ;  what  has  it  to  do  with  the  im- 
pressment of  persons  on  board  of  such  ships  ?  That  is  what  the 
Americans  object  to,  and  are  at  war  against.  They  are  not  at  war 
against  our  rights  of  search,  even  in  our  own  interpretation  of  that 
right.  What  they  object  to  is,  the  stopping  of  their  vessels  on 
the  high  seas,  and  taking  people  out  of  them  by  force:  a  practice 
which,  I  repeat  it,  is  sanctioned  by  no  principle  or  maxim  of  any 
writer  on  public  law,  nor  by  any  usage  heretofore  in  the  world. 


!  1 6  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

The  "  DECLARATION"  does  not  assert,  as  Lord  Castlereagb 
did,  in  his  letter  to  Mr.  Russell,  that  this  practice  is  sanctioned 
bj  any  former  usage  ;  but  it  declares  the  right  from  the  right  of 
search.  It  says  that,  in  exercising  "  the  right  of  search,  that  is 
to  say,  the  right  of  search  for  articles  contraband  of  wart  and  for 
enemy's  goods,  we  have  a  right  to  impress  British  seamen,  if  we 
find  them.  So  that  this  is  the  new  shape  of  the  defence  of  the 
practice  :  we  do  not  now  assert  that  we  have  a  right  to  stop  Ame- 
rican vessels  upon  the  high  seas,  Jar  the  purpose  of  impressing  our 
seamen  ;  but,  having  stopped  them  for  the  purpose  of  exercising 
our  old  "  right  of  search,1'  we  have  a  right  to  avail  ourselves  of 
the  opportunity  to  take  out  persons  whom  our  own  officers,  at 
their  discretion,  may  judge  to  be  British  seamen.  This  is  not 
even  plausible,  in  my  opinion ;  for,  what  right  can  we  have  to  im- 
press, if  we  have  no  right  to  stop  for  the  purpose  of  impressing  ? 
I  may  enter  another's  house  to  search  for  a  stolen  coat,  and 
if  I  find  there  my  hat,  I  may  seize  it  as  well  as  my  coat,  having 
due  authority  for  the  first;  but,  be  it  observed,  that  to  steal  the 
hat  was  as  criminal  as  to  steal  the  coat ;  and  if  I  had  known  or 
suspected  that  the  hat  was  there,  I  might  have  had  a  search  war- 
rant for  the  former  as  well  as  for  the  latter. 

The  law  of  nations  calls  the  high  seas  the  common  right  of  na- 
tions. A  ship  there  is  a  parcel  of  the  state  to  which  she  belongs, 
and  the  sovereign  rights  of  that  state  travel  with  her.  The  sole 
exception  is,  as  has  been  before  stated,  the  belligerents  have  a 
right  to  search  neutrals  for  goods  of  the  enemy,  and  for  warlike 
stores  and  troops,  carrying  for  the  enemy's  use ;  because,  as  far  as 
neutrals  are  engaged  in  such  a  service,  they  are  deemed  to  be  in 
the  service  of  the  enemy.  In  all  other  respects  a  neutral  ship  car- 
ries with  her,  on  the  high  seas,  the  rights  of  sovereignty  apper- 
taining to  the  state  to  which  she  belongs.  Now,  it  is  well  known, 
that  no  nation  has  a  right  to  enter  the  territory  of  another  to  exer- 
cise any  authority  whatever,  much  less  that  of  seizing  persons,  and 
carrying  them  away  by  force;  and,  indeed,  is  it  not  fresh  in 
every  one's  memory,  what  complaints  were  made  against  the 
French  for  entering  the  territory  of  the  elector  of  Baden,  and 
seizing  the  Duke  of  Enghein  ?  If  we  have  a  right  to  enter  Ame- 
rican ships  on  the  high  seas,  and  take  out  of  them,  by  force  of 
arms,  British  seamen,  what  should  hinder  us  from  having  the  same 
right  as  to  any  seaports  of  America  ?  Nay,  why  should  we  not  go 
and  seize  our  numerous  manufacturers,  who  have  been  (contrary 
to  our  laws)  carried  to  America  with  cloths  and  cutlery  ?  Their 
alleging,  that  they  went  thither  to  avoid  the  effect  of  prosecutions 
for  libel,  or  for  some  other  of  our  state  crimes,  would  be  no  bar 
to  our  claim  upon  them ;  and,  in  short,  they  could  never  be  safe 
to  the  last  moment  of  their  lives. 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

It  is  said,  that  the  seamen  on  board  of  American  ships  are  desert- 
ers. Be  it  so.  We  may  be  sorry  that  they  do  desert;  but  it  is 
no*  crime  in  the  Americans  that  our  sailors  go  into  America.  Is 
it  not  well  known  that  numerous  deserters  from  the  Austrian  and 
Prussian  armies  have,  at  all  times,  deserted  into  the  neighbouring 
states  ;  and  is  it  not  equally  well  known,  that  the  neighbouring 
slate  has  invariably  possessed  the  undisputed  right  of  giving  them 
protection,  and  of  enlisting  them  in  its  service?  Why,  therefore, 
should  we  deem  it  a  crime  in  America,  whose  abundance  of  lands 
and  provisions,  whose  high  price  of  labour,  and  whose  happiness 
of  the  lower  orders  of  mankind,  hold  out  their  arms  to  the  whole 
world  ?  And  here  I  cannot  help  introducing  a  remark  upon  the 
proposition  made  by  Lord  Castlereagh  to  Mr.  Russell,  that  the 
American  government  should  stipulate  to  deliver  up  all  British 
seamen  in  the  service  of  Americans.  Mr.  Russell  is  said  to  have 
expressed  himself  as  having  been  shocked  at  this  proposition, 
which  has  afforded  an  abundant  theme  of  abuse  by  our  hireling 
writers.  But  I  have  no  scruple  to  say,  that  I  firmly  believe 
that  it  was  a  proposition  that  never  was  before  made  to  any  inde- 
pendent state  ;  even  to  the  most  petty  state  of  Germany.  There 
was  a  plan,  some  years  ago,  in  agitation  amongst  the  states  of  Eu- 
rope, for  putting  in  force  a  mutual  surrender  of  each  others  sub- 
jects, whereupon,  the  Abbe  Raynal  remarks,  that  if  it  had  gone 
into  effect,  each  of  the  several  states  might  have  taken  the  motto 
of  Dante  over  the  entrance  to  his  infernal  regions :  He  who  en- 
ters here  leaves  even  "hope  behind."  He  represents  it  as  the  ut- 
most stretch  of  tyranny ;  a  point,  he  says,  which  the  world  ought 
to  perish  rather  than  reach.  And,  therefore,  though  Lord  Cas- 
tlereagh's  proposition  did  not  go  this  length  ;  though  it  was  con- 
fined to  British  seamen,  we  have  no  reason  to  abuse  Mr.  Russell 
for  his  expression. 

It  will  be  said,  may  be,  that  Mr.  Russell  was  ordered  to  stipu- 
late for  the  surrender,  on  our  part,  of  all  American  seamen.  Aye, 
but  the  difference  is,  that  Mr.  Russell  proposed  those  only  who 
had  been  impressed  by  us  ;  whereas,  we  wanted  to  stipulate  for 
the  surrender  of  those  British  seamen  who  had  gone  into  Ameri- 
ca of  their  own  freewill.  We  wanted  to  have  surrendered  to  us 
men  who  were  employed  in  American  merchant  ships  ;  they 
wanted  us  to  surrender  men  whom  we  had  seized  in  their  ships, 
and  forced  into  our  men  of  war.  But  is  it  possible  that  any  one 
can  find  any  thing  to  object  to  in  a  request,  that,  as  a  preliminary, 
we  should  give  up  the  Americans  whom  we  had  impressed  into 
our  service  ?  What  is  the  state  of  those  men,  now  in  service  ? 
Wrhat  is  their  state  ?  Has  the  reader  reflected  upon  this  ? 
They  must  be  useless  on  board  of  ships,  they  must  not  act ; 
they  must  do  no  seaman's  duty  ;  or  they  must,  according  to 
our  own  doctrine,  lately  exemplified  at  Horsemonger-lane,  be 
TRAITORS,  worthy  of  being  hanged,  ripped  up,  and  cut  in 


118  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

quarters.      His  Royal  Highness's  declaration   says,  that  allegi- 
ance to  his  father,  and  his  successor,  begins  with  a  man's  birth, 
and  end  with  his  death.     And  is  it  not  the  same  with  American 
citizens?  Do  they  not  owe  similar  allegiance  to  their  country  ? 
Or  is  it  about  to  be  pretended,  that  none  but  kings  can  claim  this 
sort  of  allegiance  ?     I  do  not  think  that  any  one,  even  of  the  wri- 
ters of  the   Times  and  Courier,  will  have  the  impudence  to  set 
up  this  doctrine;  but  this   they  must  do  before  they  can  make 
out  any  good  ground  of  charge  against  the  Americans  for  having 
demanded,  as  a  preliminary,  the  surrender  of  the  impressed  Ame- 
rican seamen.     Captain  Dacres,  in  accounting  for  the  loss  of  his 
frigate,  expressly  states,  that  he  had  many  Americans  on  board, 
whom  he  permitted  to  be  spectators,  from  a  reluctance  to  compel 
them  to  fight  against  their  country.      And  can  the  reader  believe 
that  this  was  the  only  instance  in  which  native  Americans  were 
unwillingly  serving  on  board  of  British  ships  of  war  ?  What,  then, 
again  I  ask,  must  be  the  state  of  those  Americans?  And  what  are 
we  to  think  of  those  writers  who  abuse  Mr.  Russell  for  proposing 
to  us  their  surrender,  as  a  step  preliminary  to  any  further  arrange- 
ment ?     The  declaration  complains,   that  America  demanded  the 
abandonment  of  the  practice  of  impressment  as  a  preliminary  to 
her  passing  a  law  to  prevent  British  seamen  from  being  received 
on  board  her  ships.      The  hireling  writers  have  treated  this  de- 
mand as  something  too  insolent  to  be   for  a  moment  listened  to. 
The  "  DECLARATION"  does  not  treat  it  in  this  lofty  style  ;  but  it 
speaks  of  it  in  pretty  strong  terms,  as  thus :  "  The  proposal  of  an 
armistice,  and  of  a  simultaneous  repeal  of  the  restrictive  measures 
on  both  sides,  subsequently  made  by  the  commanding  officer  of, 
his  majesty's  naval  forces  on  the  American  coast,  were  received 
in  the  same  hostile  spirit  by  the  government  of  the  United  States. 
The  suspension  of  the  practice  of  impressment  was  insisted  upon 
in  the  correspondence  which  passed  on  that  occasion,  as  a  neces~ 
sary  preliminary  to  a  cessation  of  hostilities.      Negotiation,  it  was 
stated,  might  take  place  without   any  suspension  of  the  exercise 
of  this  right,  and  also  without  any  armistice  being  concluded :  but 
Great  Britain  was  required  previously  to  agree,  without  any  know- 
ledge of  the  adequacy  of  the  system  which  could  be  substituted, 
to  negotiate  upon  the  basis  of  accepting  the  legislative  regulations 
of  a  foreign  state,  as  the  sole  equivalent  for  the  exercise  of  a  right 
which  she  hasfdt  to  be,  essential  to  the  support  of  her  maritime, 
power" 

Well,  and  what  then?  lta  right"  it  is  called  again;  but  if 
America  denied  it  to  be  a  right,  as  she  has  uniformly  done,  what 
wonder  was  there  that  she  made  the  proposition  ?  Great  Britain 
might  "/ec/,"  though  I  should  have  chosen  the  word  "  deem"  as 
smacking  less  of  the  boarding-school  Miss's  style,  Great  Britain 
might  "feel"  if  feel  she  must,  that  the  practice  complained  of  was 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

essential  to  the  support  of  her  maritime  power;  buf,  did  it  hence 
follow  that  America,  and  that  impressed  Americans,  should  like 
the  practice  the  better  for  that?  We  have  so  long  called  our- 
selves the  deliverers  of  the  world,  that  we,  at  last,  have  fallen  in- 
fo the  habit  of  squaring  up  all  our  ideas  to  that  appellation;  and 
seem  surprised  that  there  should  be  any  nation  in  the  world  in- 
clined to  wish  for  the  diminution  of  our  power.  The  Americans, 
however,  clearly  appear  to  see  the  thing  in  a  different  lighl.  They, 
in  their  homespun  way,  call  us  any  thing  but  deliverers  ;  and  it 
must  be  confessed,  that,  whatever  may  be  our  general  propensity, 
we  do  not  seem  to  have  been  in  haste  to  deliver  impressed  Ame- 
rican seamen. 

That  one  nation  ought  not  to  yield  a  right,  depending  for  com- 
pensation solely  upon  the  legislative  provisions  of  a  foreign  state, 
is  very  true ;  but  if  the  right  be  doubtful ;  if  it  be  unsupported 
by  any  law,  principle,  maxim,  or  custom,  then  the  case  is  differ- 
ent ;  and  then,  indeed,  the  offer  of  a  legislative  provision  is  a  proof 
of  a  sincere  desire  to  accommodate.  If  my  view  of  the  matter  be 
right,  and  I  verily  believe  it  is,  this  is  the  light  in  which  that  of- 
fer ought  to  be  viewed  ;  and  I  most  deeply  lament  that  it  was  not 
thus  viewed  by  the  ministers.  These  lamentations,  however, 
are  now  useless.  The  sound  of  war  is  gone  forth;  statement  and 
reasoning  are  exhausted  ;  the  sword  is  to  decide  whether  England 
is,  or  is  not,  to  impress,  at  the  discretion  of  her  naval  officers,  per- 
sons on  board  American  merchant  ships  on  the  high  seas.  There 
is  one  passage  more  in  the  "DECLARATION,"  upon  which  I  cannot 
refrain  from  submitting  a  remark  or  two.  After  stating  that  Ame- 
rica has  made  only  feeble  remonstrances  against  the  injuries  she 
has  received  from  France,  the  "declaration,"  this  "memorable 
document,"  as  the  Courier  calls  it,  concludes  thus:  "This  dispo- 
sition of  the  government  of  the  United  States  ;  this  complete  sub- 
serviency to  the  ruler  of  France ;  this  hostile  temper  towards 
Great  Britain ;  are  evident  in  almost  every  page  of  the  official 
correspondence  of  the  American  with  the  French  government." 

"  Against  this  course  of  conduct,  the  real  cause  of  the  present 
war,  the  Prince  Regent  solemnly  protests.  Whilst  contending 
against  France,  in  defence  not  only  of  the  liberties  of  Great  Bri- 
tain, BUT  OF  THE  WORLD,  his  Royal  Highness  was  entitled  to 
look  for  a  far  different  result.  From  their  com?/? on  origin  ;  from 
their  common  interest  ;  from  their  professed  principles  of  free- 
dom and  independence,  the  United  States  were  the  last  power,  in 
which  Great  Britain  could  have  expected  to  find  a  mil  I  ing  instru- 
ment, and  abettor  of  French  tyranny.  Disappointed  in  this  just 
expectation,  the  Prince  Regent  will  still  pursue  the  policy  which 
the  British  government  has  so  long  and  invariably  maintained  in 
repelling  injustice,  and  in  supporting  the  general  rights  of  nations  ; 
and  under  the  favour  of  PROVIDENCE,  relying  on  the  justice  of 


120  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

his  cause,  and  the  tried  loyalty  and  firmness  of  the  British  nation, 
his  Royal  Highness  confidently  looks  forward  to  a  successful  issue 
of  the  contest  in  which  he  has  thus  been  compelled  most  reluctant- 
ly to  engage."  The  last  paragraph  is  in  the  old  style,  and  will 
hardly  fail  to  remind  Mr.  Madison  of  the  documents  of  this  kind, 
issued  about  six-and-'hirty  years  ago.  However,  the  style  is 
none  the  worse  for  being  old;  though  one  cannot  but  recollect  the 
occasion  upon  which  it  was  formerly  used. 

I  regret,  however,  to  find,  in  this  solemn  document,  a  distinct 
charge  against  the  American  government  of  "  subserviency  to  the 
ruler  of  France ;"  because,  after  a  very  attentive  perusal  of  all 
the  correspondence  between  the  American  and  French  govern- 
ments, I  do  not  find  any  thing  which,  in  my  opinion,  justifies  the 
charge.  The  truth  is,  that  the  "  ruler  of  France"  gave  nay  in  the 
most  material  point  to  the  remonstrances  of  America;  and  I  have 
never  yet  read  a  message  of  Mr.  Madison,  at  the  opening  of  a  ses- 
sion of  Congress,  in  which  he  did  not  complain  of  the  conduct  of 
France.  The  Americans  abhor  an  alliance  with  France  ;  and  if 
they  form  such  an  alliance,  it  will  haAre  been  occasioned  by  this 
war  with  us.  This  charge  of  subserviency  to  Buonaparte  has  a 
thousand  times  been  preferred  against  Mr.  Madison,  but  never, 
that  I  have  seen,  once  proved.  It  is,  indeed,  the  charge  which 
we  have  been  in  the  habit  of  preferring  against  all  those  powers 
who  have  been  at  war  with  us  ;  Spain,  Holland,  Prussia,  Denmark, 
Sweden,  and,  though  last,  not  least,  Russia,  as  will  be  seen  by  a 
reference  to  Mr.  Canning's  answer  to  the  propositions  from  Til- 
sit. "  Subserviency  to  the  ruler  of  France !"  We  stop  the  Ame- 
rican merchantmen  upon  the  high  seas  ;  we  take  out  many  of  their 
own  native  seamen  ;  we  force  them  on  board  of  our  men  of  war  ; 
we  send  them  away  to  the  East  Indies,  the  West  Indies,  or  the 
Mediterranean  ;  we  expose  them  to  all  the  hardships  of  such  a  life, 
and  all  the  dangers  of  battle,  in  a  war  in  which  they  have  no  con- 
cern :  all  this  we  do,  for  we  do  not  deny  it;  and  when,  after  MANV 
YEAKS  of  remonstrance,  the  American  government  arms,  and 
sends  forth  its  soldiers  and  sailors  to  compel  us  to  desist,  we 
accuse  that  government  of  "  subserviency  to  the  ruler  of  France," 
who,  whatever  else  he  may  have  done,  has  not,  that  I  have  ever 
heard,  given  the  Americans  reason  to  complain  of  impressments 
from  on  board  their  ships.  Many  unjust  acts  he  appears  to  have 
committed  towards  the  Americans :  but  he  has  wisely  abstained 
from  impressments,  which,  as  1  have  all  along  said,  was  the  only 
ground  upon  which  the  people  of  America  could  have  been  pre- 
vailed upon  to  enter  heartily  into  a  war  with  any  power :  it  is  a 
popular  ground :  the  war  is  the  cause  of  the  people :  accordingly, 
we  find  the  motto  to  the  war  is :  "  Liberty  of  the  seas,  and  sea- 
men's rights." 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  121 

I,  therefore,  regret  exceedingly,  that  the  "  declaration"  styles 
America  "  a  willing  instrument  and  abettor  of  French  tyranny." 
Il  is  a  heavy  charge ;  it  is  one  that  will  stick  close  to  the  memory 
of  those  who  support  the  war ;  it  will  tend  to  inflame,  rather  than 
allay  the  angry  passions  ;  and,  of  course,  it  will  tend  to  kill  all 
hopes  of  a  speedy  reconciliation.  As  to  what  the  %t  declaration" 
is  pleased  to  say  about  the  "  common  origin"  of  the  two  nations, 
if  of  any  weight,  it  might  be  urged,  I  suppose,  with  full  as  much 
propriety  by  the  Americans  against  our  impressments,  as  it  is  now 
urged  against  their  resistance.  I  remember  that  it  was  urged  with 
great  force  in  favour  of  American  submission  to  be  taxed  by  an 
English  parliament;  but,  as  the  result  showed,  with  as  little  effect 
as  it  possibly  can  be  upon  this  occasion.  There  is  one  thing  in 
this  "  calling  cousin"  as  the  saying  is,  that  I  do  not  much  like. 
The  calling  cousin  always  proceeds  from  us.  The  Americans 
never  remind  us  that  we  are  of  the  same  origin  with  them.  This 
is  a  bad  sign  on  our  side.  It  is  we,  and  not  they,  who  tell  the 
world  of  the  relationship.  In  short,  it  is  weH  enough  for  a  news- 
paper to  remind  them  of  their  origin  ;  but  I  would  not  have  done 
it  in  a  solemn  declaration ;  especially  when  I  was  accusing  them 
of  being  the  willing  instrument  and  abettor  of  the  enemy.  "  Com- 
mon interest :"  that,  indeed,  was  a  point  to  dwell  on ;  but,  then, 
it  was  necessary  to  produce  something,  at  least,  in  support  of  the 
proposition.  The  Americans  will  query  the  fact;  and,  indeed, 
they  will  flatly  deny  it.  They  will  say,  for  they  have  said,  that 
it  is  not  for  their  interest  that  we  should  have  more  power  than 
we  now  have  over  the  sea ;  and  that  they  have  much  more  to 
dread  from  a  great  naval  power,  than  from  an  overgrown  power 
on  the  continent  of  Europe.  They  are  in  no  fear  of  the  emperor 
Napoleon,  whose  fleets  they  are  now  a  match  for ;  but  they  are 
in  some  fear  of  us ;  and,  therefore,  they  do  not  wish  to  see  us 
stronger. 

It  is  in  vain  to  tell  them  that  we  are  fighting  in  defence  of  the 
"  liberties  of  the  world."  They  understand  this  matter  full  as 
well  as  we  do,  and,  perhaps,  a  little  better.  I  should  like  to  hear 
my  lord  Castlereagh,  beginning  with  the  declaration  against  the 
republicans  of  France,  continue  on  the  history  of  our  hostilities 
to  the  present  day,  taking  in  those  of  India  by  way  of  episode, 
and  concluding  with  the  war  for  the  right  of  impressment,  make 
it  out  hoiv  we  have  been,  and  are  defending  the  liberties  of  the 
world.  I  dare  say  his  lordship  could  make  it  out  clear  enough. 
I  do  not  pretend  to  question  the  fact  of  his  ability  ;  but  it  would 
be  at  once  instructive  and  entertaining  to  hear  horn  he  would  do  it. 
"  From  their  professed  principles  of  freedom :"  From  these,  the 
"  DECLARATION"  aays,  that  his  Royal  Highness  expected  the 
United  States  would  have  been  the  last  power  to  become  the 
willing  instrument  of  French  tyranny.  Very  true :  of  Frrrith 

16 


Letters  of  William  Cubbctt,  Esq. 

tyranny,  but  that  did  not  hinder  him  from  expecting  them  to  be 
the  enemy  of  impressing  men  from  on  board  their  ships;  aud 
it  should  have  been  shown  how  this  disposition  proved  them  to  be 
a  willing  instrument  of  French  tyranny,  or  of  any  tyranny  at  all. 
It  is  useless  to  revile  ;  it  is  useless  to  fly  off  to- other  matter.  We 
impress  men  on  board  of  American  ships  upon  the  high  seas  ;  we 
take  out  (no  matter  whether  by  mistake  or  otherwise)  American 
seamen  as  well  as  English  ;  we  force  them  to  fight  on  board  our 
ships;  we  punish  them  if  they  disobey.  And  when  they,  after 
years  of  complaints  and  remonstrances,  take  up  arms  in  the  way 
of  resistance,  we  tell  them  that  they  show  themselves  the  willing; 
instruments  and  abettors  of  French  tyranny.  I  wish  sincerely 
that  this  passage  had  been  ornifted. 

There  are  other  parts  of  the  "  DKCLARATION"  that  I  do  not 
like  ;  but  this  part  appears  to  me  likely  to  excite  a  great  deal  of 
ill  will  ;  of  lasting,  of  rooted  ill  will.  1  do  not  like  the  w6rd 
"  prq/med,"  as  applied  to  the  American  principles  of  freedom  : 
the  meaning  of  that  word,  as  here  applied,  cannot  be  equivocal, 
and  assuredly  would  have  been  better  left  out,  especially  as  we 
never  see,  in  any  of  the  American  documents,  any  expression  of 
the  kind,  applied  to  us  and  to  our  government.  But,  to  take 
another  view  of  the  matter,  why  should  his  Royal  Highness  expect 
the  Americans  to  be  disinclined  towards  France,  because  they 
profess  principles  of  freedom  ?  Why  should  he,  on  this  account, 
expect  that  they  would  lean  to  our  side  in  the  war  ?  Does  the 
declaration  mean  to  say,  that  the  government  of  France  is  more 
tyrannical  than  was  that  monarchy,  for  the  restoration  of  which 
a  league  was  made  in  Europe  in  the  years  1792  and  1793  ?  From 
its  tone,  the  declaration  may  be  construed  to  mean  that  our  go- 
vernment is  more  free  than  that  of  France,  and  that,  therefore, 
we  might  have  expected  the  Americans,  who  profess  principles 
of  freedom,  to  be  on  our  side  in  a  contest  against  "  French  ty- 
ranny" Hem!  mum!  well,  well!  We  will  say  nothing  about 
the  matter ;  but  it  must  be  clear  to  every  one,  that  the  Ame- 
ricans may  have  their  own  opinion  upon  the  subject ;  and  they 
may  express  it  too,  until  we  can  get  at  them  with  an  ex  qfficio, 
They  may  have  their  own  opinion  upon  the  matter;  and  their 
opinion  may  possibly  differ  from  ours.  They  are,  to  be  sure,  at 
a  great  distance;  but  they  are  a  reading,  and  an  observing,-  and 
a  calculating  people ;  and  I'll  engage,  that  there  is  not  a  farmer 
in  the  back  slates  who  is  not  able  to  give  a  pretty  good  account 
of  the  blessings  of  "  English  liberty." 

Besides,  leaving  this  quite  out  of  the  question,  supposing  the 
Americans  should  think  us  freemen,  and  the  French  slaves,  why 
should  that  circumstance  prevent  them  from  leaning  to  the  side  of 
France  ?  What  examples  of  the  effect  of  such  morality  amongst 
nations  have  the  regent's  ministers  to  produce?  How  often  havr 


Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq.  12S 

•we  seen  close  alliances  between  free  and  despotic  states  neither 
free  nor  despotic  ?  How  often  have  we  been  on  the  side  of  des- 
pots against  free  states  ?  England  was  once  in  offensive  alliance 
with  France  against  Holland  ;  Holland  and  France  against 
England ;  and  it  ought  never  to  be  forgotten,  that  England,  not 
many  years  ago,  favoured  the  invasion  of  Holland,  and  the  subju- 
gation of  the  States  General  by  a  Prussian  army.  Have  ms  not 
formed  alliances  with  Prussia,  Austria,  Russia,  Spain,  Naples,  and 
all  the  petly  princes  of  Germany,  against  the  republic  of  France? 
Nay,  have  we  refused,  in  that  war,  the  co-operation  of  Turkey 
and  Algiers?  And  as  for  the  old  papa  of  Rome,  "the  whore  ol 
Babylon,"  as  our  teachers  call  him,  his  alliance  has  been  account- 
ed holy  by  us,  and  his  person  an  object  of  our  care  and  protec- 
tion. Why  then  are  we  to  expect  that  America  is  to  refrain  from, 
consulting  her  interests,  if  they  be  favoured  by  a  leaning  towards 
France?  Why  is  she  to  be  shut  out  from  the  liberty  of  forming 
connexions  with  a  despotism,  supposing  a  despotism  now  to  exist 
in  France  ?  The  truth  is,  that  in  this  respect,  as  in  private  life, 
it  is  interest  alone  that  guides  and  must  guide;  and,  in  my  mind, 
it  is  not  more  reasonable,  to  expect  America  to  lean  on  our  side  on 
account  of  the  nature  of  the  government  of  our  enemy,  than  it 
would  be  to  expect  a  presbyterian  to  sell  his  sugar  to  a  church- 
man, because  the  only  man  that  bade  him  a  higher  price  was  a 
catholic.  Here  I  should  stop  ;  but  an  article  upon  the  same  sub- 
ject, in  the  Morning  Chronicle  of  the  13th  instant,  calls  for  ob- 
servation. 

Upon  the  falsehoods  and  impudence  of  the  Times  and  (he 
Courier,  that  is  to  say,  the  principal  prints  on  the  side  of  the  Welles- 
ley  party,  and  that  of  the  ministers,  I  have  remarked  often  enough. 
I  was  anxious  to  hear  what  the  whigs  had  to  say,  and  here  we 
have  it.  Mr.  Ponsonby  and  Mr.  Brougham  had  pledged  them- 
selves to  support  the  war,  if  America  was  not  satisfied  with  the 
repeal  of  the  Orders  in  Council ;  and  here  we  have  the  grounds 
of  that  support.  On  this  account  the  article  is  interesting,  and,  of 
course,  worthy  of  an  attentive  perusal. 

"  Notwithstanding  the  tedious  length  of  the  papers  on  both  sides, 
the  question  between  the  court  of  London  and  the  government  of 
the  United  States  is  simply  the  right  of  impressment  of  seamen 
on  board  trading  ships  ;  and  this  is,  in  truth,  the  sole  cause  of  the 
war.  If  we  were  to  examine  the  value  of  this  cause  to  the  two  par- 
ties, it  cannot  be  denied  but  that  to  the  Americans  it  is  exceeding' 
ly  slight,  and  to  the  British  highly  material.  The  Americans 
cannot  regard  it  as  an  insult,  because  it  is  a  right  which  has  been 
at  all  times  asserted  and  acquiesced  in  by  sovereign  states  re- 
spectively. Then,  viewed  as  din  injury,  what  is  it?  That  they 
shall  go  to  war  to  prevent  British  subjects,  who  have  forfeited 
their  allegiance,  abandoned  their  country,  and  left  their  families, 


124  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

probably  starving,  from  being  impressed  on  board  their  merchant 
vessels;  that  13  to  say,  they  claim  the  right  to  afford  an  asylum  and 
employ  to  the  refuse  of  the  British  navy — men  without  principle, 
for  it  is  only  the  profligate  that  are  likely  to  become  the  objects 
of  their  protection.  In  this  view,  then,  the  point  is  of  little  conse- 
quence to  the  Americans ;  but  it  is  interesting  to  the  British  to  as- 
sert the  power  inherent  in  every  state  to  reclaim  its  subjects ;  and 
the  time  may  come  when  the  principle  would  be  equally  important 
to  America  herself.  But,  say  the  American  ministers,  it  is  not  so 
much  the  right  itself,  as  the  violent  and  insulting  mode  of  exercising 
it  that  we  complain  of;  for  we  have,  upon  reflection,  agreed  on  the 
principle  of  international  law,  that  free  bottoms  do  not  make  free 
goods,  and  therefore  we  have  no  objection  to  the  search  of  our 
merchant  ships  for  contraband  of  war ;  but,  in  that  case,  whenever 
warlike  stores,  £c.  are  found  on  board  an  American  vessel,  she  is 
detained  and  carried  into  a  port  for  adjudication  by  a  competent 
court.  Whether  the  adjudication  be  always  impartial  or  not,  is 
another  affair,  but  in  this  respect  nations  are  on  an  equal  footing, 
and  these  admiralty  courts,  well  or  ill  conducted,  are  recognized 
by  all  maritime  nations.  But  with  respect  to  the  impressment  of 
seamen,  the  act  is  violent  because  summary,  and  because  it  is 
subject  to  no  revisal — to  no  adjudication — and  because  the  indivi- 
dual seized  has  no  means  of  redress.  By  this  sort  of  reasoning  there 
is  a  tacit  admission,  on  the  part  of  America,  that  it  is  not  to  the  act 
itself  which  they  object,  so  much  as  to  the  manner  of  the  act ;  and, 
accordingly,  we  see  various  suggestions  made  by  the  Americans,  for 
entering  info  an  amicable  discussion  on  the  means  of  getting  over  the 
outrageous  way  in  which  the  right  is  exercised,  and  of  giving  securi- 
ly  to  both  nations  against  the  abuse  in  question.  On  the  other  side, 
Liord  Castlereagh  declares  the  readiness  of  the  British  government 
to  receive  and  discuss  any  proposition  on  this  subject,  coining  from 
the  American  government ;  though  he  would  not  enter  into  a  ne- 
gotiation, a  preliminary  to  which  should  be  the  concession  of  this 
right ;  and  so  far  we  think  he  was  clearly  right.  But  is  it  not  mon- 
strous, that  two  people  of  common  origin,  and  of  almost  inseparable 
interests,  should  remain  at  war  on  a  point  upon  which  there  is  so 
little  difference  between  them  ?  Surely,  without  any  sacrifice  of 
etiquette  on  either  side,  the  expedients  might  be  canvassed  by 
which  this  mighty  cause  of  war  might  be  removed.  Let  each 
party  promulgate  their  thoughts  on  the  subject,  and  if  there  be  an 
honest  disposition  to  peace,  it  must  follow.  The  agreement  ought 
to  be  so  drawn  as  to  make  it  most  dangerous  to  the  captain  of  an 
American  ship  to  employ  a  British  seaman  OH  board  ;  and,  on  the 
other  side,  to  make  it  equally  dangerous  for  a  British  captain  to 
seize  and  carry  off  an  American  seaman,  under  pretext  of  his 
being  a  British  subject.  Or,  in  other  words,  it  ought  to  be  made 
their  interest  to  abstain  from  those  two  causes  of  national  offence. 


Lexers  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq.  125 

Various  modes  have  been  suggested  for  this  purpose.  The  most 
effectual  undoubtedly  would  be  to  ordain,  by  a  treaty,  that  the 
subjects  of  each  power,  if  found  on  board  the  merchant's  vessels 
of  the  other,  should  be  considered  in  the  nature  of  contraband  of 
war,  inasmuch  as  their  natural  sovereign  was  thereby  deprived  of 
their  service  in  war,  and  that  that  should  be  a  cause  to  detain  the 
vessel  for  adjudication.  By  this  the  American  captain,  or  his 
owners,  would  most  seriously  suffer  by  having  British  seamen  on 
board  ;  and,  on  the  other  h  ind,  the  British  captain  would  equally 
suffer,  if  he  had  all  the  risk  and  loss  to  incur  of  an  improper  deten- 
tion. Against  this,  however,  the  arguments  are  strong.  The 
American  captain  may  have  been  imposed  upon  by  the  similarity 
of  language,  &c. ;  and  when  brought  into  one  of  our  ports,  where 
there  is  a  competent  court  to  adjudge  the  point,  a  real  American 
seaman  might  find  it  impossible  to  adduce  proofs  of  his  nativity. 
Besides,  in  both  events,  the  penalty  would  be  inordinate.  Ano- 
ther suggestion  has  been  made,  that  the  British  naval  officer  im- 
pressing a  seaman  on  board  an  American  vessel,  and  vice  versa, 
should  be  bound  to  make  a  certificate  (or  what  the  French  call 
proces  verbal}  to  the  fact,  one  copy  of  which  he  should  deliver 
to  the  American  captain,  and  transmit  the  other  to  the  admiralty 
to  be  filed  ;  and  that  the  seaman  seized  should  have  his  action  for 
damages  in  the  court  of  law,  the  cerlificate  to  be  produced  by  the 
admiralty  as  proof  of  the  trespass,  if  the  person  can  prove  himself 
to  be  a  native  of  the  country  that  he  pretended  to  be.  We  con- 
fess we  think  that  this  ought  to  satisfy  both  governments,  for  this 
would  make  officers  cautious  in  exercising  the  right,  which,  at 
the  same  time,  cannot  be  safely  surrendered." 

This  is  poor  paltry  trash.  But  it  contains  one  assertion  which 
J  declare  to  be  false.  It  is  here  asserted,  that  '*  the  right  of  im- 
pressment of  seamen  on  board  of  trading  ships,  is  a  right  which 
has  at  all  times  been  asserted,  and  acquiesced  in  by  sovereign 
states  respectively!"  i  give  this  an  unqualified  denial.  I  say, 
that  it  is  a  right  which  no  nation  has  before  asserted,  and  that  no 
nation  ever  acquiesced  in.  Let  the  Morning  Chronicle  nauie  the 
nation  that  has  ever  done  either ;  let  him  cite  the  instance  of  such 
a  practice  as  we  insist  upon ;  let  him  name  the  writer,  every  En- 
glish writer,  on  public  law,  who  has  made  even  an  attempt  to  main- 
tain such  a  doctrine ;  nay,  let  him  name  the  writer  who  has  laid 
down  any  principle  or  maxim  from  which  such  a  right  can  possi- 
bly be  deduced.  And  if  he  can  do  none  of  these,  what  assurance, 
what  a  desperate  devotion  to  faction  must  it  be  to  enable  a  man  to 
make  such  an  assertion.  The  assertion  of  the  "  value  of  the 
cause"  being  slight  to  America,  in  comparison  to  what  it  is  to  us, 
has  no  better  foundation.  The  value  !  what  is  of  value,  what  is  of 
any  value  at  all,  if  the  liberty  and  lives  of  the  people  of  America 
are  of  no  value?  And  when  we  know,  when  no  man  will  deny, 


126  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Msq. 

when  official  records  of  the  fact  exist,  that  hundreds  of  native 
Americans  have  been  impressed  and  sent  to  serve  on  board  our 
ships  of  war;  when  (his  is  notorious;  when  it  neither  will  nor  can 
be  denied,  what  is  of  value  ?  As  to  the  proposition  of  making  Eng- 
lish seamen  "  contraband  of  war,"  it  is  so  impudent,  it  is  so 
shameful,  it  is  even  so  horrid,  that  1  will  do  no  more  than  just  name 
it,  that  it  may  not  escape  the  reader's  indignation ;  indeed,  there 
needs  no  more  than  the  reading  of  this  one  article  to  convince  the 
Americans,  that  all  the  factions  in  England  are,  in  effect,  of  one 
mind  upon  the  subject  of  this  war  ;  and  I  am  afraid  that  this  con- 
viction will  produce  consequences  which  we  shall  have  sorely  to 
lament,  though  I  shall,  for  ray  own  part,  always  have  the  satisfac- 
tion to  reflect,  that  every  thing  which  it  was  in  my  power  to  do., 
has  been  done,  to  prevent  those  consequences. 

IV.M.  COBBETT. 

Eotlej,  14th  January,  1813. 


AMERICAN  WAR. 

IT  will  be  useless,  perhaps,  but  I  cannot  refrain  from  calling  the 
attention  of  the  public  once  more  to  the  gross  delusions  practised 
upon  it  by  the  hired  prints,  with  regard  to  this  war.  At  first 
they  said  that  there  would  be  no  war ;  that  war  was  the  cry  ef 
the  mere  rabble;  and  that  though  Mr.  Madison  was  himself  cor- 
rupted by  France,  the  congress  were  not.  When  the  congress 
met,  they,  however,  actually  declared  war.  Then  our  hirelings 
Cold  us,  that  the  people  were  enraged  with  both  President  and 
congress,  and  that,  as  the  election  of  President  was  approaching, 
they  would  turn  Mr.  Madison  out,  and  that  thus  the  war  would  be 
put  an  end  to.  That  election  has  now  terminated  ;  but  until  the  ter- 
mination, or,  rather,  the  result,  was  known,  we  heard  of  nothing 
but  the  certain  defeat  of  Mr.  Madison.  He  was  sure  to  lose  his 
election  ;  and,  indeed,  several  successive  arrivals  brought  us  the 
news  of  his  having  actually  lost  it.  To  which  was  added,  that 
his  rival,  Mr.  Clinton,  had  pledged  himself  to  make  peace  with 
England.  At  last,  however,  comes  the  news,  that  Mr.  Madison 
was  re-elected  !  After  this,  one  would  have  supposed  that  the 
hireling  press  would,  at  least,  have  kept  silence  upon  the  subject; 
but,  no  ;  it  had  still  a  falsehood  left ;  and  it  is  now  telling  the  peo- 
ple, the  "  thinking  pfople"  of  England,  that,  next  year,  there  will 
be  a  re-election  of  the  senate,  when  Mr.  Madison  will  have  a  ma- 
jority often  against  him  in  that  body,  and  that,  in  consequence  of 
such  change,  he  will  be  compelled  to  make  peace  with  us.  What 
a  people  must  this  be  to  be  thus  deceived  !  And  still  to  listen  to 
such  publications:  aye,  and  to  rely  upon  them,  too,  as  ioa- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  127 

plicitly  as  if  they  had  always  spoken  the  truth  !     Nothing  can, 
however,  be  more  flattering  to  the  Americans  than  these  state- 
ments,  which  show  how  uneasy  this  country  is  tinder  the  war  with 
them  ;  how  sorely  we  feel  the  effects  of  it ;  and  how  anxious  we 
are  to  get  out  of  it.     There  is  a  coxcomb,  who  publishes  in  the 
Times  newspaper,  under  the  signature  of  VETUS,  who  would 
fain  make  us  believe  that  the  people  of  America,  or,  at  least,  the 
agricultural  part  of  the  population,  are  a  sort  of  half  savages.     If 
Vetus  had  to  write  to  them,  he  would  not  find  many  fools  enough 
to  tolerate  his  sublimated  trash.     He  imputes  their  dislike  to  Eng- 
lish politics  to  their  ignorance.     He  does  not  know,  perhaps,  that 
they,  to  a  man,  (if  natives,)  are  as  well  acquainted  with  all  our 
laws  as  we  are  ourselves  ;  that  they  know  all  about  our  excise  taxes, 
and  custom  house  taxes,  and  assessed  taxes,  and  property  taxes,  full 
as  well  as  we  do ;  and  that  they  know  all  about  our  law  of  libel,  our 
sinecures,  and  our  paupers.     If  he  were  to  go  amongst  them,  and 
to  have  the  impudence  to  tell  them  that  these  are  proofs  of  civilisa- 
tion^ they  would,  or,  at  least,  I  hope  so,  make  him  remember  the 
assertion  as  long  as  he  had  life  in  his  carcass.     The  Americans 
have  always  had  their  eyes  fixed  upon  us  ;  and  does  this   foolish 
man  imagine,  that  they  do  not  know  how  to  set  a  proper  value 
upon  our  system  of  government  ?     When  they  come  to  England, 
as  some  of  them  do,  they  sometimes  reach  London  by  the  way  of 
Blackwater,  where,  while  they  behold  immense  places  for  the 
education  of  officers  of  the  army,  they  see  ragged,  or  rather  na- 
ked, children  tumbling  along  the  road  by  the  side  of  their  chaise, 
crying  as  they  go,  "  Pray  bestow  your  charity  ;  pray  bestow  your 
charity  /"     The  Americans  know  how  to  estimate   these  things. 
They  are  at  no  loss  to  draw  the  proper  inferences  from  such  facts ; 
and  it  is  not  the  trash  of  Vetus  about  civilisation  that  will  cloud 
their  reasoning.    The  American  farmers  are  great  readers.   There 
are  absolutely  none  of  them  who  do  not  read  much.      They  know 
that  we  pay  more  in  poor-rates  only,  than  double  the  amount  of 
the  whole  of  their  revenue  !     That  fact  alone  is  enough  for  them. 
With  that  fact  before  their  eyes,  they  will  be  in  no  haste  to  at- 
tain what  this  fop  calls  a  high  state  of  civilisation.     Besides,  as 
to  ihefact,  all  those  who  know  America,  will  say  that  the  farmers 
there  are  a  class  of  men  beyond  all  belief  superior  in  understand- 
ing to  those  of  England,  or  of  any  country  of  Europe.     They 
have  plenty;  they  have  no  dread  of  the  tax-gatherer ;  their  minds 
are  never  haunted  with  the  fear  of  want ;  they  have,  therefore, 
leisure  to  think  and  to  read.      And  as  to  what  he  says  about  their 
being  absorbed  in  the  love  of  gain,  the  fact  is  the  reverse.     They 
have  no  motives  to  acquire  great  wealth,  other  than  the  mere  vul- 
gar love  of  money,  seeing  that  no  sum  of  money  will  purchase 
them  distinction,  seeing  that  millions  would  not  obtain  them  a  fto/r 
from  even  a  negro. 


128  Letters  of  William  Cob  belt,  tisq. 

That  is  a  country  where  the  servant  will  not  pull  his  hat  off  [a 
his  employer,  and  where  no  man  will  condescend  to  call  another 
man  his  master*  Hence  it  is  that  the  American  farmer  makes  no 
very  great  exertions  to  become  rich.  Riches  beyond  his  plain 
wants  are  of  no  use  to  him.  They  cannot  elevate  him  ;  they  can- 
not purchase  him  seals;  they  cannot  get  him  cities  ;  they  cannot 
obtain  commissions  or  church  benefices  for  his  sons  ;  they  can  do 
nothing  for  him  but  add  to  his  acres,  which  are  already,  in  most 
cases,  but  too  abundant.  He  has,  from  these  causes,  much  lei- 
sure, and  that  naturally  produces  reading,  particularly  when  the 
residence  is  in  the  country.  So  that  the  half  wild  man,  whose 
picture  has  been  drawn  by  Veins,  is  wholly  foreign  from  the 
reality  of  the  American  fanner.  The  American  farmer  does  not 
hate  England.  He  hates  a  taxing  system ;  but  he  does  not  want 
war  with  England.  He  wauls  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  her, 
and  though  he  hates  war,  he  is  more  afraid  of  a  connexion  with 
her  than  with  a  war  against  her.  He  wishes  to  see  all  those  who 
will  be  connected  with  her  expelled  from  his  country  ;  and,  there- 
fore, he  is  pleased  to  see  the  makers  of  knives  and  coats  ris^  up  in 
his  own  country.  To  bring  about  this,  to  create  manufactures  in 
America,  was  the  policy  of  Mr.  Jefferson  j  an  object  which  has 
been  now  attained,  through  the  means  of  our  hostility  and  of  the 
revolution  in  Spain.  The  continuation  of  the  war  for  about  three 
years  longer  will  for  ever  put  an  end  to  English  connexion  ;  and 
thus,  the  grand  object  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  policy  will  have  been 
secured  during  his  probable  lifetime.  This  silly  fellow,  Vetus, 
seems  to  be  wholly  ignorant  of  the  subject.  He  knows  nothing 
either  of  the  character  or  interests  of  the  American  people.  He 
senselessly  urges  on  the  war,  without  at  all  perceiving  the  conse- 
quences to  which  it  leads.  He  does  not  perceive  that  it  will  ef- 
fectually deprive  our  government  of  the  power  of  again  taxing  the 
coat,  or  the  candlestick,  of  Ihe  American  farmer.  He  does  not 
perceive,  that  it  will  stop  from  our  treasury  many  millions  a  year. 
When  he  is  talking  of  Ihe  folly  of  introducing  manufactures  into 
America,  he  does  not  perceive,  that  that  is  the  most  deadly  blow 
that  the  Americans  can  give  to  our  taxing  system.  From  the 
empty  verbiage  of  this  writer,  who  has  been  well  termed  an  old 
battered  hack,  Iconic  to  something  of  more  importance,  namely,  the 
debate  of  the  Ittth  instant  in  the  house  of  commons,  upon  the 
subject  of  the  war  with  America.  I,  perhaps,  should  not  call  it 
a  debate,  where,  as  to  the  only  point  at  issue,  all  the  speakers 
seem  to  have  been  of  one  mind  and  sentiment.  But  be  it  what  it 
may,  it  is  of  great  importance  to  the  liberties  of  mankind  ;  and  as 
such,  I  shall  notice  it  somewhat  in  detail.  Lord  CASTLEREAGH 
(aye,  that  is  the  man,  Americans !)  opened  the  discussion  in  the 
character  of  Secretary  of  State  of  Foreign  Affairs.  This  man's 
name  is  well  known  to  the  world.  This  is  now  the  man  who. 


{setters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

after  Perceval,  is  to  maintain  the  justice  and  necessity  of  a  war 
Against  America. 

The  papers  relating  to  the  negotiation  between  the  two  coun- 
tries had  been  laid  before  the  house  ;  and,  in  consequence  of  this, 
Lord  Castlereagh,  on  the  18th,  brought  forward  a  motion  for  "  an 
address  to  the  Prince  Regent,  expressing  the  regret  of  parliament 
for  the  failure  of  the  negotiation,  and  pledging  themselves  to  « 
zealous  and  cordial  co-operation  with  his  Royal  Higliness  in  the 
prosecution  of  the  war,  in  support  of  the  riglits  and  interests  of 
Great  Britain,  and  honour  of  His  Majesty's  crown.'"  This  motion 
was  carried  with  a  unanimous  voice,  just  as  similar  motions  used 
to  be  during  the  former  American  war,  when  about  forty  of  such 
addresses  were  carried  up  to  the  king.  I  shall  now  proceed  to 
notice  such  parts  of  the  speeches  as  seem  to  me  worthy  of  parti- 
cular attention.  Lord  Castlereagh  set  out  with  relating  what  had 
passed  in  regard  to  the  Orders  in  Council,  and  after  haying  re- 
ferred to  the  time  and  manner  of  their  repeal,  and  to  the  pledges 
of  support  of  the  war  given  in  case  that  repeal  should  fail  of  pro- 
ducing peace  with  America,  he  said,  as  it  is  stated  in  the  report 
in  the  Morning  Herald,  that  "he,  therefore,  now  flattered  him- 
self, that  government  would  meet  with  that  support  which  had 
been  so  liberally  promised.  If  this  was  reallj  found  to  be  the 
case — if  every  attempt  had  been  made  that  justice  or  forbearance 
could  suggest  to  conciliate  America  ;  and  if,  notwithstanding,  she 
had  issued  a  declaration  of  war,  and  persisted  in  carrying  it  on, 
after  the  concessions  that  had  been  made,  where  was  the  man  that 
could  refuse  his  assent  to  carry  on  the  war  with  vigour  adequate 
to  our  means?  America  would  thus  see  the  united  efforts  of  the 
country,  and  the  unanimity  of  the  house,  that  had  been  called  forth 
by  the  line  of  policy  that  she  had  pursued.  If  they  looked  at 
the  documents  that  had  been  published  by  the  American  govern- 
ment as  the  grounds  of  the  war,  they  should  look  at  peace  as  aa 
object  very  distant,  because  the  American  government  placed  the 
war  on  such  extensive  grounds  as  could  not  be  removed  by  thia 
country." 

It  is  very  true,  that  there  were  people  in  the  house  of  common* 
who  promised  to  support  the  war  if  the  repeal  of  the  Orders  in  Coun- 
eil  failed  to  satisfy  the  Americans  ;  but  I  made  no  such  promise? 
and,  therefore,  I,  though  a  fly  amongst  eagles,  am  at  liberty  to 
express  my  disapprobation  of  the  war.  Nay,  I  most  distinctly 
said,  at  the  time,  that  the  repeal  of  the  Orders  in  Council  would  not 
satisfy  the  American  people.  I  had,  indeed,  said  so  many  months 
before ;  and  I  had  said  it  upon  a  knowledge  of  the  fact.  That 
I  all  along  said,  that  unless  we  ceased  to  impress  persons  out  of 
American  ships  upon  the  high  seas,  we  should  have  war;  and, 
therefore,  when  the  ministry  were,  by  Mr.  Brougham,  reduced  to 
the  necessity  of  repealing  the  Orders  in  Goonch1,  J,  iw  an 

1? 


130  Letters  of  William  Cobbeti,  Esq. 

to  the  Prince  Regent,  prayed  him  to  add  a  relinquishment  of  the 
practice  of  impressment,  without  which,  I  positively  asserted,  that 
the  other  measure  would  fail  of  its  desired  effect.  Nevertheless, 
Mr.  Ponsonby,  as  the  leader  of  the  whigs,  did  promise  support  to 
the  war,  if  the  repeal  of  the  Orders  failed  to  satisfy  America  ;  and 
Mr.  Brougham  did  the  same.  The  country  was  thus  misled,  and 
was  prepared  for  a  justification  of  the  war.  The  manufacturers, 
some  of  whom  came  to  see  me  in  Newgate,  where  I  had  been 
imprisoned  for  two  years,  and  sentenced  to  pay  a  fine  of  a  thousand 
pounds  to  the  king,  which  I  have  since  paid  to  his  son,  in  his 
behalf,  for  having  written  and  published  upon  the  subject  of  the 
flogging  of  some  local  militiamen,  in  the  town  of  Ely,  in  England, 
who  had  been  first  quelled  by  German  troops;  here,  I  say,  in 
this  prison,  I  saw  some  of  the  manufacturers,  who,  after  the 
success  of  Mr.  Brougham's  motion,  were  preparing  to  return 
home,  full  of  joy  in  the  assurance  of  a  renewed  and  uninterrupt- 
ed intercourse  with  America,  and  I  told  them,  that  they  ought  to 
moderate  their  joy;  for  that  Mr.  Brougham's  success  would  not 
produce  the  effect  they  expected,  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  hia 
pledge  to  support  a  war,  if  that  measure  failed  to  ensure  peace, 
might  be  attended  hereafter  with  infinite  mischief.  They  did  not 
absolutely  laugh  in  my  face,  but  I  could  clearly  perceive  that 
they  did  riot  believe  a  word  that  I  said,  and  that  they  attributed 
my  gloomy  predictions  to  a  feeling  which,  though  I  might  have 
been  excused  for  possessing  it,  really  was  a  stranger,  as  far  as 
that  subject  went,  to  my  breast.  The  truth  is,  that  they  saw  no 
importance  in  any  thing  but  commerce ;  they  saw  nothing  in  im- 
pressments to  make  a  nation  go  to  war ;  they  regarded  it  as  mad- 
ness to  suppose  that  a  nation  would  suspend  its  commercial  gains 
for  a  single  hour  for  the  sake  of  a  few  thousands  of  men  impressed 
by  a  foreign  power.  I,  however,  knew  the  disposition  of  the  free 
people  of  America  better  ;  I  had  heard  the  declaration  of  the  con- 
gress on  the  subject;  I  knew  that  that  body,  whose  seats  are  not 
bought  and  sold,  spoke  the  voice  of  the  people ;  and,  upon  this 
ground,  together  with  other  grounds  that  I  need  not  be  particular 
in  naming,  I  founded  my  assurances  to  the  manufacturers,  that  the 
repnal  of  the  Orders  in  Council  would  not  answer  the  end  they 
expected  from  it,  and  I  could  not  help  it.  I  must  confess  feeling 
some  slight  degree  of  anger  against  the  manufacturing  bodies, 
when  I  saw  them  meeting  to  vote  thanks  to  Mr.  Brougham,  with- 
out taking  the  smallest  notice  of  my  incessant  efforts  to  prevent 
that  destruction  of  their  hopes  which  I  savr  would  speedily  tread 
upon  the  heels  of  their  exultation.  However,  this  feeling  has 
long  been  extinguished  in  my  breast,  and  I  only  regret  that  I  ;mi 
without  the  power  of  affording  any  portion  of  assistance  to  the 
poor  snffenng  wretches  in  the  manufacturing  districts.  To  return 
now  to  the  debate :  Lord  Castlereagh  talks  of  accessions  made 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  131 

to  America  in  the  repeal  of  the  Orders  in  Council.  I  have  often 
shown,  that  there  was,  according  to  the  laws  and  usages  of  nations, 
no  concession  at  all.  Nay,  there  was,  according  to  our  own  doc- 
trine ;  according  to  our  own  part  of  the  correspondence  ;  no  con- 
cession made  to  America.  The  thing  is  shown  as  clear  as  day- 
light, in  two  words.  We  all  along  avowed,  that,  in  themselves 
considered,  our  Orders  in  Council  were  a  violation  of  the  neutral 
rights  of  America;  but  we  asserted  that  they  were  justified  by 
the  violation  of  those  same  rights  committed  by  Napoleon,  and  we 
declared  that  we  would  cease  our  violation  the  moment  France 
ceased  hers.  France  did  cease :  we  had,  according  to  our  own 
declaration,  proof  that  France  had  ceased  before  we  made  the 
repeal.  We  then  ceased  ;  but  I  put  it  to  the  common  sense  of 
the  reader,  whether  this  cessation  ought  to  be  called  a  concession. 
Thus,  according  to  our  own  doctrine ;  according  to  our  own 
diplomatic  correspondence ;  according  to  our  own  more  solemn 
acts,  the  Orders  themselves,  and  the  declaration  of  repeal ;  accord- 
ing to  all  these,  we  made  no  concession  at  all  to  America. 

Why  then  talk  about  concession  ?  It  may  have  an  effect  here  ; 
but  assuredly  it  will  have  none  in  America,  where  the  government 
(a  government  chosen  by,  and  resting  upon,  the  free  ami  unbought 
voice  of  the  people)  have  constantly  protested  against  our  Orders 
in  Council,  as  an  open  and  gross  violation  of  the  known  and  acknow- 
ledged rights  of  America,  and  as  receiving  not  a  shadow  of  justi- 
fication from  the  violent  and  unjust  conduct  of  France.  To  talk, 
therefore,  of  concessions,  seems  to  me  to  be  something  intolera- 
ble ;  but  to  expect  that  the  people  of  America  would,  after  the 
solemn  declaration  of  congress  to  the  contrary  ;  to  expect  that  they 
would  disarm  upon  our  ceasing  to  violate  one  of  their  rights,  while 
a  still  more  grave  subject  of  complaint  existed  ;  to  entertain  such 
an  expectation  as  this,  appears  unaccountable  upon  any  other  suppo- 
sition  than  that  of  our  ministers  and  members  of  parliament  being 
wholly  deficient  in  knowledge  relative  to  the  opinions  and  feelings 
of  the  American  people,  and  the  means  of  the  American  govern- 
ment. Besides,  there  was  another  consideration  connected  with 
the  repeal  of  the  Orders  in  Council ;  and  that  was,  that  by  ths 
repeal  we  merely  announced  our  intention  to  cease  to  violate  a 
right.  We  said  nothing  about  compensation  for  the  past.  This 
was  very  material ;  for  it  was  impossible  that  it  should  be  over- 
looked by  the  American  government,  without  an  abandonment  of 
all  the  principles  upon  which  it  had  resisted  the  Orders  in  Coun- 
cil. I  also  pointed  this  out  at  the  time,  for  which  I  was  treated  as 
a  fool  and  a  friend  of  France  by  a  Scotch  newspaper.  The  manu- 
facturers of  Paisley  will,  by  this  time,  have  discovered,  that  I 
was  a  better  friend  of  England  than  their  impudent  countryman, 
and  that  I  foresaw  an  obstacle  to  peace  which  had  escaped  the  eyes 
of  both  the  parties  in  parliament;  for  Lord  Casllereagh  now  tells 


132  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

us.  that  such  compensation  was  demanded  as  a  preliminary  to  a 
cessation  of  hostilities.  "  The  Orders  in  Council,"  he  said, "  were 
now  wholly  out  of  the  question,  by  the  overture  for  an  armistice 
on  both  si'ies  ;  but  even  on  the  ground  of  the  repeal  of  fhe  Or- 
ders in  Council,  the  American  government  had  pressed  the  matter 
go  lar,  and  in  such  a  temper,  as  to  admit  of  no  amicable  arrange- 
ment. Mr.  Russell  had  put  in  claims  to  have  indemnity  for  all 
captures  made  by  our  cruisers  under  the  Orders  in  Council  since 
1806.  He  did  not  say  that  this  might  not  have  bi en  given  up, 
but,  as  the  question  stood,  it  evidently  appeared  that  America 
had  shown  no  disposition  to  be  satisfied  with  the  forbearance  of 
this  country."  Well,  if  this  might  have  been  given  up  on  our 
side,  why  not  give  it  up  at  first,  and  see  what  it  would  do  ?  How- 
ever, the  demand  was  made,  we  see,  and  1  said  it  would  be  made. 
The  American  government  could  not  avoid  making  it,  without  ex- 
posing itself  to  the  detestation  of  the  people,  as  a  base  abandoner 
of  their  rights  ;  rights  so  long  contended  for,  and  sought  to  be  re- 
dressed by  means  of  so  many  and  such  large  sacrifices.  Now. 
our  ministers,  and  Mr.  Ponsonby,  and  Mr.  Brougham,  ought  to  have 
foreseen  that  this  demand  would  be  eiade.  In  not  foreseeing  it 
they  showed  a  want  of  knowledge  upon  the  subject,  and  also  a 
want  of  knowledge  as  to  the  circumstances  in  which  America  stood 
wish  regard  to  France,  from  whom  she  was,  and  still  is,  demand- 
ing indemnity  upon  exactly  the  same  principle  that  she  makes  the 
demand  on  us.  The  reader  cannot  be  too  often  reminded  of  the 
origin  and  nature  of  the  Orders  in  Council.  They  arose,  as  we 
allege,  out  of  the  French  Decrees  of  Berlin  and  Milan,  the  two 
places  at  which  the  Emperor  was  when  he  signed  them.  These 
Decrees  violated  neutral  rights  on  the  seas  ;  but  it  was  declared 
in  the  preambles  to  them,  that  this  violation  was  rendered  neces- 
sary by  certain  Orders  in  Council  of  England,  which  enforced  a 
greater  violation  of  neutral  rights.  We,  upon  the  appearance  of 
these  Decrees,  issued  other  Orders  in  Council,  enforcing  other 
violations  of  neutral  rights.  Both  parties  were  complained  of  by 
America.  Both  parties  call  their  measures  retaliatory.  Both 
parties  allowed  that  their  measures  violated  neutral  rights.  Both 
parties  said  they  regretted  that  the  measures  had  been  forced  up- 
on them.  Each  party  declared,  over  and  over  again,  in  the  most 
solemn  manner,  that  the  moment  the  other  removed  or  relaxed  his 
measures,  he  should  find  a  joyful  imitator  in  the  party  declaring. 
America  protested  against  the  conduct  of  both.  She  said  to  us 
that  we  had  no  right  to  violate  her  rights  because  they  were  vio- 
lated by  France ;  and  to  France  she  said,  that  she  had  no  right 
to  violate  her  rights  because  they  were  violated  by  us.  At  last, 
to  put  the  sincerity  of  the  two  parties  to  the  test,  she  passes  a 
law,  which  says,  that  if  before  the  1st  of  November,  1810,  both 
parties  have  repealed  their  Decrees,  (hen1  commercial  and  friendly 


Letters  of  William  Cobbetl,  Esq.  133 

intercourse  with  her  shall  continue  :  that  if  one  party  does  repeal, 
and  the  other  does  not  repeal  by  that  day,  then  her  ports  shall  be 
abut  against  the  non- repealing  power  in  February,  1811.  Napo- 
leon, in  the  month  of  August,  1810,  issued  a  Decree,  by  which  his 
violating  Decrees  stood  repealed  on  the  1  st  of  the  following  Novem- 
ber. This  new  Decree  was  communicated  to  our  ministers  by  the 
American  minister  in  London,  who  expressed  his  hope  that,  agreea- 
bly to  our  many  solemn  declarations,  we  should  hasten  to  follow 
the  example  of  France.  Our  ministers  answered  in  a  sort  of  a 
vague  way ;  but,  at  any  rate,  tliey  did  not  reped  ;  and  in  Febru- 
ary, 1811,  the  law  went  into  effect  against  us.  Our  goods  and 
our  vessels  were  shut  out  of  the  American  ports,  while  those  of 
France  were  admitted.  We  asserted  that  Napoleon  had  not  re- 
pealed his  Decrees.  America  asserted  that  he  had,  but  we  would  not 
believe  her.  We  insisted  that  she  did  not  know  the  fact  near 
so  well  as  we  did.  In  short,  we  continued  to  refuse  to  repeal. 
At  last,  the  great  distresses,  and  consequent  complaints  of  the  manu- 
facturers, led  to  an  inquiry,  at  the  bar  of  the  house  of  commons, 
into  the  effects  of  the  Orders  in  Council,  when  such  a  mass  of 
evidence  was  produced  by  Mr.  Brougham  in  support  of  the  pro- 
position, that  the  non  importation  law  ot  America  was  the  princi- 
pal cause  of  those  distresses,  that  the  ministers  (Perceval  being 
dead)  gave  way ;  and  the  Orders  were  repealed.  This  is  the 
plain  and  true  history  of  the  matter  ;  and  I  particularly  wish  the 
reader  to  bear  in  mind,  that  our  Orders  had,  up  to  the  moment  of 
Napoleon's  repeal  of  his  Decrees,  always  been  acknowledged  by 
us  to  contain  a  violation  of  the  known  rights  of  neutrals  ;  but,  in 
our  justification,  we  said,  that  it  was  forced  upon  us  by  the  De- 
crees of  the  enemy.  This  was  our  language  up  to  the  moment  of 
Napoleon's  repeal.  But  what  says  Lord  Castlereagh  now  ?  So 
far  from  acknowledging  that  the  Orders  in  Council  enforced  a  vio- 
lation of  any  known  neutral  right,  he  contends  (if  the  report  of 
his  speech  be  correct)  that  they  were  founded  on  our  known  pri- 
mitive right.  The  words,  as  they  stand  in  the  report,  are  these: 

"  The  Orders  in  Council  had  been  a  point  on  which  consider- 
able difference  of  opinion  in  this  country  had  prevailed,  but  they 
had  been  abandoned,  not  so  much  on  the  ground  of  this  country 
not  having  THE  RIGHT,  as  with  a  view  to  commercial  expediency. 
He  rather  wished,  however,  to  waive  the  renewal  of  that  branch 
of  the  question,  now  that  the  whole  proceedings  of  government 
were  before  the  house.  With  respect  to  the  main  principles  oC 
that  system,  ministers  were  still  unaltered  in  their  opinion,  when 
the  conservation  of  the  country  rendered  it  necessary  to  resort  to 
it.  At  the  time  the  measure  was  adopted,  such  a  system  was 
necessary,  not  only  as  it  respected  France,  but  as  connected  rvitli.- 
tlip  soundest  policy  for  the  general  interest  of  the  JRrilish  empire. 


,134  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

Had  it  not  been  for  the  manly  resistance  given  by  that  measure 
to  the  power  ol  France,  France  now  would  have  been  as  triumph- 
ant, in  a  commercial  point  of  view,  as  she  was  with  respect  to 
the  continent.  He  begged  he  might  always  be  considered  as  an 
admirer  of  that  system."  Now,  1  state  that  the  Orders  in  Coun- 
cil themselves,  and  the  papers  of  our  diplomatic  agents,  and  the 
speeches  of  Sir  VV  illiam  Scott,  almost  explicitly  acknowledge, 
that  the  measure  was  to  be  justified  only  on  the  ground  of  its  be- 
ing a  retaliation  on  France  ;  and  that,  in  the  two  former  is  ex- 
pressed his  Majesty's  earnest  desire  to  imitate  France  in  doing 
away  these  obnoxious  measures.  This  was  the  language  up  to 
the  moment  when  the  repeal  of  the  French  decrees  was  announced 
to  us.  Our  language  has,  indeed,  since  changed ;  and  it  was 
during  the  debates  upon  Mr.  Brougham's  motions,  coolly  argued, 
that  the  repeal  of  the  Orders  would  make  the  Americans  the  car- 
riers of  the  commerce  of  the  world.  But  though  we  have  changed 
our  language,  it  does  not  follow  that  America  should  change  hers. 
She  always  contended  that  by  the  Orders  in  Council  her  rights 
were  violated  ;  she  always  contended,  that  all  the  seizures  we 
made  under  those  Orders  were  unjust ;  and,  of  course,  she  de- 
mands indemnity  for  those  immense  seizures.  But  is  it  really  so  ? 
can  it  be  possible  ?  can  the  thing  be  that  a  secretary  of  state 
has  asserted  in  open  parliament,  that  without  any  reference  to  the 
conduct  of  France,  and  that  though  the  decrees  of  Napoleon  did 
not  exist,  we  had  a  right  to  do  what  was  done  towards  neutrals 
under  the  Orders  in  Council ;  and  that,  whenever  we  think  proper, 
we  have  a  right  to  do  the  same  again  ?  If  this  be  so  ;  if  this  asser- 
tion was  made  by  the  minister  for  foreign  affairs,  and  if  it  be  meant 
to  be  maintained,  then,  certainly,  the  war  with  America  will  be  long 
indeed.  Reader,  what  was  it  that  was  done  in  virtue  of  these  Orders 
in  Council  ?  I  will  give  you  an  instance.  An  American-built 
ship,  owned  by  a  native  American,  manned  by  native  Americans, 
laden  with  flour,  or  any  thing  else,  the  growth  of  America,  and 
bound  from  America  to  France,  or  to  any  other  country,  named 
in  the  Orders  in  Council,  was  seized  on  the  high  seas  by  any  of 
our  vessels  of  war,  carried  into  any  of  our  ports,  the  ship  and 
cargo  condemned,  and  the  master  and  his  crew  turned  on  shore 
to  beg,  or  starve,  or  live  and  find  their  way  home  as  they  could. 
This  was  done  in  virtue  of  the  Orders  in  Council,  and  if  the  re- 
port be  correct,  this  is  what  we  have  a  right  to  do  towards  neutrals 
again,  "whenever  the  conservation  of  the  country"  calls  for  it; 
that  is  to  say,  whenever  our  government  thinks  proper  to  cause  it 
to  be  done  !  Now,  I  will  not  waste  my  time  and  that  of  the  reader 
by  any  discussion  upon  maritime  and  neutral  rights ;  but  I  will 
just  ask  him  this  one  question  :  If  we  have  a  right  to  act  thus  to- 
wards America,  whenever  we  think  proper,  she  being  at  peace 


Letters  of  William,  Cobbett,  Esq.  13p 

with  us,  what  can  she  lose  in  the  way  of  trade,  what  can  she  risk 
in  changing  that  state  of  peace  for  a  state  of  war  ?  In  my  next  I 
shall  discuss  the  other  points  brought  forward  in  this  debate. 

WM.  COBBETT. 


AMERICAN  WAR. 

THIS  war,  which  was  spoken  of  by  the  hireling  of  the  Times 
newspaper,  and  others,  with  such  ineffable  contempt,  has  now 
assumed  a  very  formidable  mien ;  and  those  who  were  so  eager 
for  the  war  begin  to  revile  each  other  with  regard  to  the  conduct- 
ing of  it. 

There  are,  at  this  time,  three  political  factions  in  the  country ; 
the  one  that  is  in  possession  of  the  distribution  of  the  public 
money;  the  whig  faction;  and  the  faction  of  the  Wellesleys  and 
Cannings.  The  two  latter  would  join  if  they  could  ;  but  each 
aims  at  the  possession  of  the  power  of  giving  places  and  pensions  ; 
and,  in  short,  at  being  the  ministry.  These  two,  therefore,  cannot 
agree  wholly  ;  but  they  both  attack,  though  upon  different  occa- 
sions, and  different  grounds,  those  who  are  in  possession  of  the 
paradise  of  Whitehall. 

Amongst  other  objects  of  attack  is  that  of  negligence  as  to  the 
American  war.  The  Chronicle  and  Times  are  equally  bitter 
against  the  ministers  upon  this  subject  ;  they  revile  them  for 
having  plunged  the  country  into  a  war  with  America  without 
providing  a  sufficient  maritime  force  to  cope  with  that  new  enemy. 
A  sufficient  force  !  Why,  the  Times  newspaper  spoke  of  the 
navy  of  the  United  States  as  a  thing  not  worthy  of  the  name ;  it 
laughed  at  "  Mr.  Madison  and  his  navy  ;"  it  predicted  that  a  few 
months  would  add  that  navy  to  our  own  ;  it,  in  short,  spoke  of  it 
in  a  tone  of  contempt  which  I  should  in  vain  attempt  to  describe. 
And  yet,  it  now  blames  the  ministers  for  not  having  provided  a 
sufficient  force  to  cope  with  that  contemptible  navy ;  that  navy, 
which  was  an  object  of  the  most  cruel  ridicule. 

The  defeat  and  capture  of  the  Guerriere,  the  Frolic,  and  the 
Macedonian,  must,  of  course,  be  matter  of  astonishment  to  thos 
who  listened  to  the  language  of  these  presumptuous  and  foolish  men; 
but  in  what  respect  are  the  ministers  to  blame  for  it  any  more 
than  they  were  for  the  evacuation  of  Madrid,  and  for  all  the  con- 
sequences of  the  unexpected  retreat  of  our  army  in  the  Peninsula  ? 
The  ministers  had  a  great  abundance  of  ships,  of  all  sizes,  on  the 
American  station  ;  and  what  were  they  to  do  more  ? 

I  recollect,  and  so  must  the  reader,  that  at  the  time  of  the  reri- 
cbunter  between  Commodore  Kodgers  and  Captain  Bingham,  the 
words  in  the  mouths  of  all  these  writers  were  :  "  Let  one  of  our 


136  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

FRIGATES  meet  with  Rodgers,  and  we  ask  no  more.9'  This  wish ; 
this  challenge,  was  repeated  a  thousand  times  over ;  the  public 
cannot  have  forgotten  the  fact ;  nay,  the  sentiment  was  universal. 

Upon  what  ground,  then,  are  the  ministers  now  to  be  blamed  ? 
Are  they  to  be  blamed,  because,  upon  trial,  it  has  been  found  that 
our  frigates  are  not  a  match  for  those  of  America  ?  Are  they  to  be 
blamed,  because  they  did  not  entertain  a  meaner  opinion  of  our 
frigates,  compared  with  those  of  America,  than  any  other  man  in 
England  entertained,  or,  at  least,  dared  to  say  that  he  entertained  ? 

We  are  told  by  the  writers  in  the  interest  of  the  two  OUT  fac- 
tions, that  the  republican  frigates  are  bigger,  longer,  have  heavier 
guns,  and  the  like,  than  our  frigates  have.  "  The  varlet's  a  lull ' 
man  /"  said  Bobadil,  when  he  had  been  cudgelled.  But  are  these 
new  discoveries  ?  Were  the  facts  not  all  well  known  before  to  afl 
these  writers,  when  they  so  boldly  challenged  out  the  American 
frigates  to  combat  with  ours?  When  Rodgers  attacked  Bingham, 
the  size  of  his  ship  was  well  known,  and  pariicularly  described  ;  and 
yet  not  one  of  them  called  for  heavier  ships  to  be  sent  out  to  the 
American  coast.  Why,  then,  are  the  ministers  to  be  blamed  for 
not  sending  out  heavier  ships  ?  Besides,  they  have  heavier  ships 
upon  the  station,  and  it  cannot  be  their  fault  if  those  ships  do  not 
fall  in  with  the  American  frigates.  What  are  they  to  do  with  our 
frigates  ?  If  ours  are  unable  to  face  the  American  frigates,  what 
are,  I  ask,  the  ministers  to  do  with  them?  Are  they  not  to  suffer 
them  to  go  on  a  cruise,  lest  they  should  fall  in  with  a  tall  Yankee  ? 
In  short,  it  is  another  of  the  tricks  of  faction  to  blame  the  ministers 
for  these  misadventures  of  the  navy  ;  and  the  attempts  made  by 
the  ministerial  prints  to  account  for  our  defeats  upon  the  ground  of 
our  inferiority  of  force,  is  another  of  the  means  made  use  of  to 
deceive  the  people,  and  to  encourage  them  in  the  continuation  of 
the  war. 

When,  until  now,  did  we  think  of  disparity  of  force  ?  When, 
until  now,  did  we  dream  of  an  English  ship  surrendering  to  a  ship, 
the  superiority  of  the  force  of  which  it  required  a  minute  calcula- 
tion to  show  ?  When,  until  now,  did  an  English  captain  hesitate 
to  attack  a  ship  of  a  few  guns  more  than  his  own?  Instead  of 
all  the  calculations  that  we  have  seen  in  newspapers ;  instead  of 
those  swelled-out  accounts  of  the  vast  force  of  the  American 
frigafes,  we  should  be  plainly  told,  that  we  have  now  an  enemy  to 
cope  with,  equal  to  ourselves  as  far  as  numbers  \vill  go. 

Amongst  all  the  calculations  and  computations,  however,  that  we 
have  heard,  I  have  not  perceived  it  any  where  taken  into  account, 
that  we  have  experience,  which  the  Americans  have  not.  Where 
did  Isaac  Hull  gain  his  naval  experience ;  and  where  did  Decatur  ? 
There  are  two  Decaturs,  the  father  and  son.  They  were  my 
neighbours  in  the  country,  in  Pennsylvania.  They  were  farmers 
uipre  than  seamen,  though  the  elder  went  occasionally  to  sea  as 


Letters  of  William  Cobhett,  Esq. 

^commander  of  a  merchant  ship.  If  it  be  the  father  who  has  taken 
ihe  Macedonian,  he  must  be  upwards  of  threescore  years  of  age  ; 
and  if  it  be  the  son,  I  am  sure  it  is  the  first  battle  he  ever  was 
in ;  for  twelve  years  ago  he  was  but  a  mere  lad.  The  father 
was  a  man  of  great  probity  and  of  excellent  sense  ;  and  I  have  no 
doubt  that  the  son  is  the  same  ;  but,  I'll  engage,  they  both  have 
iiad  more  experience  in  raising  Indian  corn  than  in  naval  tacfics. 

Something,  therefore,  in  our  estimates,  should  be  allowed  for 
our  superiority  in  point  of  experience.  We  have  no  officer  of  the 
navy  who  has  not  passed  a  great  part  of  his  life  in  actual  service  ; 
we  have  scarcely  one  who  has  not  been  in  numerous  battles  ;  and, 
in  the  unfortunate  cases  above  spoken  of,  one  of  the  captains  ap- 
ipears  to  have  been  of  long  standing,  even  in  that  rank. 

When  we  are  speaking  of  the  naval  preparations  of  Napoleon, 
we  always  dwell  upon  the  difficulty  of  his  forming  naval  officers — 
but  here  we  see,  in  the  case  of  America,  that  that  is  attended  with 
no  difficulty  at  all ;  we  here  see  gallant  and  consummate  com- 
manders start  up  in  a  trice ;  and  in  a  moment  is  dissolved  the 
charm  which  bound  us  in  ignorance  as  to  this  important  species  of 
information. 

The  truth  is,  I  believe,  that  amongst  the  first  qualities  of  a 
naval  commander,  are  sobriety,  vigilance,  and  consideration  for 
his  crew  ;  and  these  qualities  are  within  the  reach  of  every  man. 
The  American  government,  too,  has  a  ?vide  range  for  clioice  ; 
with  it,  no  intrigues,  commonly  called  "  interest"  is  likely  to  pre- 
vail ;  because  the  possession  of  the  powers  of  the  state  depend 
solely  upon  the  will  of  the  people;  and  the  government,  having 
such  support,  is  not  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  seeking  support 
from  any  individuals;  and,  of  course,  is  not  exposed  to  the 
danger  of  being  compelled  to  employ,  as  commanders,  or  as  offi- 
cers of  any  rank,  persons  not  recommended  by  their  own  good 
qualities.  This  is  a  very  great  advantage  possessed  by  the 
American  government;  an  advantage  to  which,  perhaps,  it  owes 
those  successes  which  we  so  sorely  lament,  and  which  seem  to  be 
very  likely  to  form  an  era  in  the  naval  history  of  the  world. 

But  let  what  will  be  the  final  result  of  these  transactions,  I 
really  can  see  no  ground  for  accusation  against  the  ministers  on 
account  of  the  misfortunes  that  have  befallen  our  frigates.  Blamed 
they  may  be  for  Ut£  war.  There,  indeed,  there  is  matter  for 
blame  ;  because,  if  my  reasoning  upon  the  subject  be  correct, 
they  might  have  avoided  the  war  without  any  dishonour  to  Eng- 
land ;  but  for  this  they  cannot  be  blamed  by  those  who  are  seek- 
ing for  their  places  ;  because  some  of  those  very  persons  were 
amongst  the  men  who  adopted  acd  adhered  to  the  measures  which 
produced  the  war,  and  the  rest  of  them  have  pledged  themselves 
to  prosecute  it  upon  its  present  ground.  Mr.  Canning  and  Lord 
Wellesley  were,  in  succession,  secretaries  of  state  for  foreign 

18 


138  Letters  of  William  Cobbttt,  Esq. 

affairs,  while  the  dispute  was  maintained  against  the  abolition  of 
impressment  of  persons  on  board  of  American  ships-  Indeed, 
the  former  has  expressed  his  disapprobation  of  the  "  concessions," 
as  he  calls  them,  made  to  America  in  the  repeal  of  our  Orders  in 
Council.  Of  course,  he  cannot  complain  of  the  ministers  for  going 
to  war;  and  Mr.  Ponsonby,  as  the  organ  of  the  whigs,  distinctly 
declared,  that  if  America  was  not  satisfied  with  that  repeal,  he 
would  support  the  war  against  her.  Not,  therefore,  being  able  to 
find  fault  with  the  ministers  for  the  war  itself,  they  fall  upon  them 
as  to  their  manner  of  conducting  it ;  and,  as  I  think  I  have  shown, 
they  do  this  without  a  shadow  of  justice.  We  "jacobins"  blame 
all  the  three  factions ;  some  of  them  for  causing  the  war,  and 
others  for  pledging  themselves  to  support  it ;  nor  have  1  the  least 
hesitation  to  predict,  that  day  after  day  will  tend  to  convince  all 
persons  of  impartiality  that  we  are  right. 

This  war  we  owe  entirely  to  the  presumption  inspired  by  our 
foolish  and  venal  writers.  The  language  of  the  late  Perceval,  who 
talked  of  not  wishing  for  the  "  destruction"  of  America,  and  who 
spoke  of  her  as  of  a  power  depending  on  his  will  for  her  very  ex- 
istence ;  this  language,  which  will  long  be  remembered,  was  the 
general  language  of  the  press.  We  could  not  believe  it  possible 
that  a  government,  the  whole  of  the  officers  of  which,  president 
and  all,  did  not  receive  from  the  public  so  much  money  annually, 
as  one  of  our  sinecure  placemen  ;  we  could  not  conceive  that  a 
government  who  did  not  get  more  money  for  itself,  would  be  able 
to  get  money  enough  to  carry  on  a  war  more  than  sufficient  to 
last  our  sloops  for  a  few  months.  We  have  now  found  our  mis- 
take; and,  indeed,  the  premises  which  we  had  in  our  eye  should 
have  led  to  a  directly  different  conclusion;  for  would  not  common 
sense  have  told  us,  that  the  less  of  the  public  money  was  taken 
by  the  officers  of  government  for  their  own  use,  the  less  of  it  that 
was  devoured  by  placemen  and  by  others  for  no  services  rendered 
the  public,  the  more  there  must  be  for  the  government  to  employ 
in  the  public  service  ?  This  would  have  been  the  rational  con- 
clusion; but  to  reason  thus  suited  not  those  who  had,  and  who 
have  the  control  over  ninety-nine  hundredth  parts  of  the  press  of 
this  country.  They,  therefore,  represented  America  as  a  nation 
destitute  of  warlike  means,  when  they  should  have  made  an  esti- 
mate of  her  resources  upon  the  grounds  stated  in  my  last  number,, 
The  persons  in  high  offices  in  America  are  badly  paid  ;  but  (and 
the  fact  is  worth  great  attention)  those  in  low  rank,  or  no  rank  at 
all,  are  well  paid.  The  former  have  very  small  salaries ;  their 
gains  are  much  less  than  those  of  any  considerable  merchant  or 
manufacturer,  lawyer  or  physician ;  but  the  common  soldier  and 
sailor  are  paid  at  a  very  high  rate  ;  at  such  a  rate  as  not  (o  make 
him  regret  his  change  from  civil  life.  I  should  not  say,  perhaps. 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  139 

that  the  former  are  badly  paid  ;  because  there  is  something  in  the 
honour  of  high  office  which  the  common  man  does  not  enjoy ; 
anu  besides,  there  is  something  due  from  every  man  to  his  coun- 
try ;  and  the  greater  that  his  stake  is  in  the  country  the  less  is 
his  right  to  draw  from  her  purse.  Mr.  Madison  does,  I  dare  say, 
expend,  as  president,  every  shilling  of  the  6,000  pounds  that,  as 
president,  he  receives.  And  why  should  he  not  ?  What  claim 
would  he  have  to  the  title  of  patriot,  if  he  grudged  to  use  his  ta- 
lents for  his  country  ;  orj  which  is  the  same  thing,  if  he  refused  to 
use  them  without  being  paid  for  their  use?  If  such  were  his  dis- 
position, what  claim  would  he  have  to  the  confidence  of  his  fellow 
citizens  1  But,  with  the  common  soldier  or  sailor,  or  other  infe- 
rior person  employed  by  the  government,  the  case  is  wholly  differ- 
ent. He  has  nothing  but  his  labour  for  his  inheritance ;  he  pos- 
sesses no  part  of  the  country  ;  his  time  is  his  all ;  and,  of  course, 
he  is  paid  for  that  at  as  good  a  rate  as  if  he  laboured  for  an  indi- 
vidual. 

Those  who  speculate  upon  the  resources  of  America  should  not 
overlook  these  important  circumstances  ;  but  hitherto,  I  am  sorry 
to  say,  that  we  have  almost  wholly  overlooked  them.  I  never  shall 
forget  the  obstinacy  of  many  persons  with  whom  I  am  acquainted  as 
to  tne  intention  of  the  American  government  to  go  to  war.  They 
persisted  to  the  very  last,  that  it  was  impossible.  They  called 
the  declaration  of  congress  "bullying;"  they  said  it  was  "all 
smoke"  and  so,  indeed,  said  the  hired  press,  that  vehicle  of  lies, 
that  instrument  of  ill  to  England.  They  have  found  some  fire  as 
well  as  smoke ;  they  have  found  that  the  republicans  have  some- 
thing at  their  command  beside  words :  and  when  it  is  too  late,  I 
fear  that  they  will  find  that  this  is  the  most  fatal  war  in  which  we 
have  yet  been  engaged.  One  effect  of  it  appears  to  me  to  be  in- 
evitable ;  and  that  is,  the  creation  of  a  navy  in  America.  Pray, 
good  hired  men,  do  not  laugh  at  me;  for  I  am  quite  serious,  when 
I  say,  that  my  fear  is  that  this  war  will  lead  to  the  creating  of  a 
formidable  navy  in  America.  The  means  are  all  in  her  hands, 
and  her  successful  beginning  will  not  fail  to  give  activity  to  those 
means. 

A  navy,  a  military  marine  in  America,  is,  to  me,  a  most  formi- 
dable object.  Twenty  frigates  only  would  cause  an  expense  to 
us  of  millions  a  year,  unless  we  resolved  to  yield  the  West-India 
Islands  at  once.  I  would  not  advise  our  government  to  look  upon 
the  rearing  of  an  American  navy  as  something  necessarily  distant. 
America  has  swelled  her  population  from  about  two  to  about  eight 
millions  in  the  spaee  of  less  than  thirty  years.  Another  ten  years 
may  see  her  population  amount  to  twenty  millions.  From  not 
being  permitted  to  "make  a  hobnail,"  she  has  risen  to  be  an 
exporter  of  numerous  useful  manufactures.  I  state  it  as  an 


14d  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

undeniable  fact,  lhat  she  is  now  able  to  supply  herself  with  all  the 
articles  necessary  to  man,  even  in  polished  life.  And  if  this  be 
so,  why  should  she  not  be  able  to  reur  a  navy,  having  already 
nearly  as  great  a  mercantile  marine  as  our  own.  Whether  it  will 
be  for  her  happiness  that  she  should  do  this  is  another  question ; 
but  that  she  will  do  it,  I  think,  is  most  likely;  because,  in  the  mass 
composing  every  society  of  men,  there  is  generally  a  sufficient 
number  on  the  side  of  power  and  glory  to  decide  the  nation  in  fa- 
vour of  the  love  of  those  captivating  objects.  This  war,  there- 
fore, if  not  speedily  put  an  end  to,  will,  in  my  opinion,  not  fail  to 
make  America  a  manufacturing  nation,  as  far  as  her  own  wants 
call  for,  and  to  make  her  also  a  naval  nation ;  and  will  thus,  at  one 
stroke,  deprive  us  of  our  best  customers  for  goods,  and  give  us, 
upon  the  seas,  a  rival  who  will  be  daily  growing  in  strength  as  well 
as  in  experience.  In  my  preface  to  the  republication  of  Mr. 
Chancellor  Livingston's  Treatise  on  M'erino  Sheep,  I  showed  how 
necessarily  it  would  follow  from  the  introduction  of  flock  keeping 
in  America,  that  she  would  become  independent  of  us  as  to  wool- 
lens. Nevertheless,  and  in  spite  of  all  the  facts  which  have  from 
time  to  time  been  published  relative  to  the  manufacturing  of  cloths 
in  that  country,  there  are  still  men  to  treat  with  ridicule,  aye,  even 
with  ridicule,  the  idea  of  America  being  able  to  make  her  own  coats 
and  blankets.  I  remember  that,  while  I  was  in  Newgate  for  two 
years,  for  writing  about  the  flogging  of  the  local  militia,  at  the 
town  of  Ely,  in  England,  under  the  superintendence  of  German 
troops,  there  came  a  gentleman,  who  was,  I  believe,  a  dealer  in 
wool,  to  ask  my  opinion  relative  to  the  future  commerce  with  Ame- 
rica. After  having  spent  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  in  a  detail 
of  facts,  which,  in  my  mind,  contained  proof  unquestionable  that 
the  woollen  trade  with  America  was  for  ever  at  an  end,  he  began 
a  sentence  upon  the  surprising  increase  of  the  manufactures  in 
America,  which  he  concluded  in  words  to  this  effect :-  "  I  dare 
say,  that  in  less  than  half  a  century  we  shall  not  ship  a  bale  of 
cloth  to  that  country."  This  put  rne  in  mind  of  the  effect  that 
the  Betley  Parson's  sermons  used  to  have  upon  me  ;  and  I  lost  no 
time  in  changing  the  subject  of  conversation.  I  am  not  one  of 
those  who  shall  regret  this  independence  of  America,  which  I  do 
not  think  will  prove  an  injury  to  England  in  the  end  ;  but  I 
could  have  wished  the  change  to  have  been  less  abrupt,  and  effect- 
ed without  war,  and  without  the  animosities  and  sufferings  insepa- 
rable from  war.  To  me  it  appears  as  absurd  as  it  is  unnatural, 
that  the  American  farmer  should  not  have  his  coat  untaxed  at  the 
custom  house  in  England.  I  can  see  no  sense  and  no  reason  in  it. 
Nor  do  I  see  why  the  people  of  England,  or  any  portion  of  them, 
should  make  coats  or  knives,  or  any  thing  else,  for  the  use  of  other 
countries,  except  merely  in  such  quantities  as  may  be  necessary  to 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  141 

exchange  for  wine  and  oil,  and  some  few  other  things  which  really 
are  useful  to  man. 

The  use  of  commerce  is  to  effect  an  exchange  of  the  products 
of  one  climate  for  those  of  another  ;  but  government  have  turned 
it  into  the  means  of  taxation,  and,  in  many  cases,  that  appears  to 
be  its  on!/  object.  An  exchange  of  English  coal  for  French 
wine,  the  former  at  305.  a  chaldron,  and  the  latter  at  6d.  a  bottle 
in  London  ;  that  would,  indeed,  be  a  commerce  to  be  contempla- 
ted with  pleasure.  But  a  commerce  carried  on  under  a  code  of 
prohibitions  and  penalties,  such  as  those  now  everywhere  in  ex- 
istence, is  not  to  be  desired.  It  is  an  instrument  of  taxation,  and 
an  endless  source  of  war,  and  is  nothing  more.  Those,  however, 
who  are  of  a  different  opinion,  may  look  upon  the  war  with  Ame- 
rica as  one  of  the  surest  means  of  destroying,  or,  at  least,  diminish- 
ing for  ever  the  best  branch  of  what  they  admire ;  but  while  I 
blame  the  ministers  for  the  war,  I  must  say  that  the  merchants 
and  manufacturers  (I  mean  the  powerful  ones)  have  no  right  to 
blame  them.  The  ministers,  in  their  measures  towards  America, 
have  done  no  more  than  pursue  that  same  system  at  which  those 
merchants  and  manufacturers  have  a  thousand  times,  and  in  the 
strongest  terms,  expressed  their  approbation.  At  the  outset  of 
this  long  and  destructive  war,  who  stood  forward  so  readily  in  sup- 
port  of  it  as  this  class  of  persons  ?  The  war-whoop  has  invariably 
originated  with  them.  They  indulged  the  selfish  hope  of  seeing 
themselves  in  possession  of  all  the  trade  and  all  the  riches  of  the 
world.  The  English  newspapers  contain  a  record  of  their  love  of 
war,  of  war  against  any  body,  as  long  as  it  promised  gain  to  them. 
They  have,  over  and  over  again,  called  the  war  which  began  in 
an  invasion  of  France  by  the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  "a.  just  and  ne- 
cessary  war;"  but,  of  late,  they  appear  to  have  been  taught  by 
their  poor  books  and  the  list  of  bankrupts,  that  the  war  is  not 
quite  so  "  necessary ,"  however  "j«s<"  they  may  still  think  it. 
They  have,  I  repeat  it,  no  right  to  complain  against  the  ministers, 
who  have  not  deviated  from  the  system  of  Pitt  and  Grenville,  and 
who,  with  regard  to  America,  are  only  acting  upon  the  very  same 
objects  that  have  been  acted  upon  and  pursued  from  the  year 
1792  to  the  present  day  ;  and  the  manufacturers  are  tasting,  as 
is  most  meet,  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  their  own  planting  and 
protecting. 

\\7M.  COBBETT> 


EECOLONIZATION  OF  THE  AMERICAN  STATES. 

IT  was  easy  to  believe  that  the  enemies  of  freedom  would,  up- 
on this  occasion,  turn  their  baleful  eyes  towards  the  United  States 
of  America,  and  endeavour  to  stimulate  our  government.,  who,  let 


142  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq; 

us  hope,  however,  has  too  much  sense  to  be  so  worked  on,  ta 
wage  a  war  for  the  destruction  of  liberty  in  the  western  world, 
Bui  I,  who  fully  expected  to  see  this,  ain  really  astounded  at  the 
speed  and  the  boldness  with  which  the  project  has  been  brought 
forward  in  some  of  our  public  prints,  especially  the  Times,  which, 
in  plain  terms,  urges  a  war  against  the  United  States  upon  the 
same  principles  that  the  close  of  the  war  has  been  carried  on 
against  Napoleon ;  and,  indeed,  which  aims  at  the  subjugation 
and  recolonisation  of  that  country.  Before  I  proceed  any  fur- 
ther, I  shall  insert  the  article  which  has  called  forth  these  obser- 
vations. 

"  It  is  understood  that  part  of  our  army  in  France  will  be  im* 
mediately  transferred  to  America,  to  finish  the  war  there  with  the 
same  glory  as  in  Europe,  and  to  place  the  peace  on  a  foundation 
equally  firm  and  lasting.  Now  that  the  tyrant  Buonaparte  has 
been  consigned  to  infamy,  there  is  no  public  feeling  in  this  coun- 
try stronger  than  that  of  indignation  against  the  Americans.  That 
a  republic,  boasting  of  its  freedom,  should  have  stooped  to  become 
the  tool  of  that  monster's  ambition  ;  that  it  should  have  attempted 
to  plunge  the  parricidal  weapon  into  the  heart  of  that  country 
from  whence  its  own  origin  was  derived  ;  that  it  should  have 
chosen  the  precise  moment  when  it  fancied  that  Russia  was  over- 
whelmed, to  attempt  to  consummate  the  ruin  of  Britain— all  this 
is  conduct  so  black,  so  loathsome,  so  hateful,  that  it  naturally 
stirs  up  the  indignation  that  we  have  described.  Nevertheless, 
there  is,  in  this  case,  the  same  popular  error  that  there  was,  not 
long  since,  when  France  was  identified  in  the  minds  of  most  men 
with  the  name  of  BUONAPARTE.  The  American  government  is, 
in  point  of  fact,  as  much  a  tyranny  (though  we  are  far  from  say- 
ing it  is  so  horrible  a  one)  as  was  that  of  BUONAPARTE  :  and  as 
we  firmly  urged  the  principle  of  no  peace  rvitk  BUONAPARTE,  so> 
to  be  consistent  with  ourselves,  we  must  in  like  manner  maintain 
the  doctrine  of  NO  PEACE  WITH  JAMES  MADISON. 
The  reasons  for  this  are  twofold,  as  respecting  this  country,  and 
as  respecting  America.  A  very  little  reflection  will  render  them 
sufficiently  manifest.  In  the  first  place,  hatred  of  England  is  the 
fundamental  point  in  the  policy  of  Mr.  MADISON.  He  is  the 
ostensible  organ  of  a  party,  all  whose  thoughts,  feelings,  and  sen- 
timents are  guided  by  this  master  key.  Some  of  the  statesmen 
of  this  school  have  not  blushed  to  assert  in  full  senate,  '  that  the 
world  ought  to  rejoice,  if  Britain  were  sunk  in  the  sea  ;'  if,  where 
there  are  now  men,  and  wealth,  and  laws,  and  liberty,  '  there  were 
no  more  than  a  sandbank  for  the  sea-monsters  to  fatten  on,  a  space 
for  the  storms  of  the  ocean  to  mingle  in  conflict.*  Such  is  the 
deep-rooted  antipathy  which  these  wicked  men  have  to  the  land 
of  their  forefathers  !  With  such  men  Mr.  MADISON  acts  ;  and 
he  himself,  before  the  accession  of  his  party  to  power,  expressly 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  143 

laid  it  down  as  a  principle,  (on  the  discussion  of  Mr.  Jay's  nego- 
tiation,) *  that  no  treaty  should  be  made  with  the  enemy  of 
France.'  His  love  for  the  latter  country,  however,  was  but  an 
adjunct  of  the  hatred  which  he  entertained  towards  us  :  and  he 
hated  us  for  the  very  same  reason  that  BUONAPARTE  did — be- 
cause we  stand  in  the  way  of  any  state  that  aspires  at  universal 
dominion ;  for,  young  as  is  the  transatlantic  republic,  it  has  al- 
ready indulged  in  something  more  than  dreams  of  the  most  unmea- 
sured ambition.  We  need  not  here  detail  the  long  history  of  fraud 
and  falsehood  by  which  he  at  length  succeeded  in  deluding  his 
countrymen  into  war.  Suffice  it  to  say,  he  had  two  objects  in 
.that  war  ;  first,  to  sap  the  foundations  of  our  maritime  greatness, 
by  denying  the  allegiance  of  our  sailors ;  and,  secondly,  to  seize 
on  our  colonial  possessions  on  the  main  land  of  America,  leaving 
it  to  a  future  occasion  to  lay  hands  on  our  insular  settlements  in 
the  West  Indies.  Perhaps,  when  he  finds  himself  unexpectedly 
deprived  of  the  buckler  under  which  he  aimed  these  stabs  at  our 
vital  existence — the  mighty  NAPOLEON,  the  protector  in  petto  of 
the  Columbian  Confederacy — he  may  be  willing  to  draw  in  Ids 
horns,  and  sneak  away  from  his  audacious  undertakings.  But 
shall  we  have  the  extreme  folly  to  let  him  off  thus  ?  When  we 
have  wrested  the  dagger  from  the  bravo's  hand,  shall  we  quietly 
return  it  to  him  to  put  up  in  its  sheath?  No,  no.  Mr.  MADI- 
SON himself,  in  his  very  last  public  speech,  has  furnished  us  with 
a  most  apposite  rule  of  conduct,  which  he  cannot  blame  us  for 
adopting,  since  he  avowedly  follows  it  himself — namely,  that  we 
should  *  not  only  chastise  Ike  savages  into  present  peace,  but  make 
a  lasting  impression  on  their  fears*  Hitherto  we  have  consi- 
dered the  Americans  as  identified  with  Mr.  MAPISON'S  govern- 
ment 5  but  is  this  the  fact?  So  much  the  reverse,  that  it  has  been 
openly  proposed  in  some  of  the  states  to  treat  for  peace  with 
Great  Britain  separately  ;  and  they  would  act  wisely  and  justifi- 
ably in  adopting  this  measure.  The  eastern  states  ;  the  most 
moral,  the  most  cultivated,  the  most  intelligent,  the  best  in  every 
respect,  are  at  this  instant  reduced  to  a  complete  thraldom  by  the 
southern  states,  under  the  forms  of  a  constitution  which  the  pre- 
vailing faction  violates  at  pleasure,  '  The  small  states,'  says 
FISHEK  AMES,  'are  now  in  vassalage;  they  obey  the  nod  of 
Virginia.  The  constilution  sleeps  with  WASHINGTON,  having 
no  mourners  but  the  virtuous,  and  no  monument  but  history.  Our 
vote  and  influence  (those  of  the  eastern  states)  avail  no  more  than 
that  of  the  Isle  of  Mm  in  the  politics  of  Great  Britain."  If  this 
was  true  before  the  annexation  of  Louisiana,  how  much  more 
strikingly  so  now,  that  that  addition  has  quite  broken  down  all 
balance  between  the  states,  and  poured  an  irresistible  stream  of 
corrupt  influence  into  the  channel  of  the  executive !  What  is  very 
remarkable  is,  that  the  preponderance  of  the  southern  states  is 


344  Letters  of  William  C'ubbett, 

chiefly  owing  to  the  slayes  they  contain !  The  number  #f  votes, 
which  each  state  has  in  the  national  government,  is  determined 
by  the  whole  population.  Hence,  though  the  slave  has  no  politi- 
cal existence,  he  gives  a  weight  to  his  master  over  a  free  man  in  a 
different  state ;  and  by  another  curious,  but  not  uncommon  para- 
dox in  human  nature,  the  slave  owner  there  is  generally  a  furious 
democrat,  and  the  democrats  have  hitherto  been  the  most  servile  of 
the  tyrant's  adherents.  Clear,  therefore,  is  it,  that  the  free  con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  is  either  incompetent  in  itself  to  af- 
ford an  equal  protection  to  the  wisest  and  best  parts  of  the  union; 
or  else  that  constitution  has  been  violated  and  overthrown  by  the 
faction  of  which  Mr.  MADISON  is  the  ostensible  head  ;  and  ia 
either  case,  the  oppressed  states  would  act  justly  to  themselves 
to  separate  their  interests  from  thost  of  tht  incapable  and  trea* 
cherous  individual  who  has  dragged  them  r&luciantfy  into  a  nay- 
no  less  inglorious  than  unjust.  \\  hen  we  speak  of  these  and 
the  like  crimes,  as  perpetrated  by  Mr  MADISON  individually,  we 
only  mean  to  use  his  name  in  the  common  way  in  which  persons 
in  eminent  stations  are  generally  spoken  of.  He  stands  at  the 
head  of  the  list,  not  but  that  Mr.  GALLATIN  may  be  more  artful, 
Mr.  CLAY  more  furious,  Mr.  JEFFBKSON  more  malignant,  and  so 
on ;  and  besides,  there  is  a  ferocious  banditti  belonging  to  his  party, 
of  whom,  perhaps,  he  himself  stands  in  awe,  and  who,  as  the)  con- 
sist of  Irish  traitors,  and  fugitive  bankrupts,  and  swindlers,  from  all 
parts  of  the  United  Kingdom,  may  easily  be  conceived  to  exceed 
«ven  the  native  Americans  in  rancour  against  Great  Britain  :  but 
the  more  shameless  and  abandoned  the  individuals  are  who  com- 
pose this  faction,  the  greater  odium  must  be  cast  on  Mr.  MADISON 
himself,  in  the  eyes  of  the  moral  and  reflecting  part  of  the  Amerfc- 
can  population.  It  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  United 
States  are  wholly  deficient  in  characters  of  this  latter  description. 
They  have  had  many  wise  and  many  eloquent  men,  whose  words 
yet  live  in  the  hearts  and  in  the  meditations  of  their  countrymen. 
Mr.  WALSH,  the  accomplished  editor  of  the  American  Review, 
has  attained  a  high  literary  reputation  even  in  this  country  ;  and 
though  the  late  FISHER  AMES  (the  BUKKE  of  the  western  hemis- 
phere) is  not  so  much  known  in  this  country,  he  deservedly  en- 
joys a  much  greater  popularity  in  America.  These,  and  many 
more  such  writers  as  these,  have  kept  alive  the  fire  of  genuine 
British  liberty  in  the  United  States.  Whilst,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  miserable  blunders  of  the  DEARBORNS,  and  HOPKINS'S,  and 
WILKINSONS,  and  HAMPTONS,  and  all  the  long  list  of  defeated 
generals,  have  thrown  a  ridicule  on  that  invasion  of  Canada  which 
was  one  of  the  great  baits  of  the  war.  Lastly  comes  the  fall  of 
Mr.  MADISON'S  grand  patron,  attended  with  the  execration  and 
acorn  of  all  Europe.  Can  we  doubt  thai  a  vigorous  effort  on  our 
part  will  annihilate  the  power  of  a  faction  alike  hostile  to  Bn 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  145 

fain  and  fatal  to  America?  Is  not  the  time  propitious  for 
winning  at  least  the  sounder  and  better  part  of  ihe  Americans 
to  a  union  of  interests  with  the  country  from  whence  they 
tprwng? 

Ii  is  impossible  to  read  this  article  without  being  convinced  that 
there  are  men  who  seriously  entertain  the  wish  to  see  America 
recolonized;  who  wish  to  see  our  king  restored  in  America,  as 
the  Bourbons  have  been  in  France;  for  Mr.  MADISON  is  (he 
chosen  president  of  the  union ;  he  does  nothing  of  himself;  it  is 
ihe  president,  the  congress,  and  the  people,  all  acting  in  concert. 
Yet  he  is  to  be  put  down;  no  peace  is  to  be  made  with  him  any 
more  than  with  NAPOLEON  ;  the  government  of  the  stales  is  a 
tyranny;  the  constitution  is  violated,  or  is  inefficient ;  its  exist- 
ence is  inimical  to  last  ing  peace;  the  time  is  propitious  for  win- 
ning the  sounder  part  of  the  states,  at  least,  to  a  union  of  interests 
with  the  country  from  whence  they  sprung.  These  are  sentiments 
and  declarations  to  begin  with ;  but,  in  fact,  they  go  the  whole 
length  of  recolonization ;  and  that  is  the  project  now  on  foot 
amongst  the  foes  of  freedom,  who  seem  to  be  resolved  to  prove  to 
us,  that  those  friends  of  liberty  in  America  who  did  not  wish  for 
the  extinguishment  of  Napoleon,  despot  as  he  was,  were  not  with- 
out sound  reasons  for  their  sentiments.  Tfiey  saw  that,  though 
he  had  betrayed  the  republican  cause,  if  he  were  put  down,  there 
would  be  men  ready  to  urge  projects  of  the  description  of  that  of 
which  we  are  now  speaking.  This  language  towards  the  United 
States  was  never  made  use  of;  sentiments  like  these  were  never 
hazarded  while  Napoleon  was  in  power ;  but  the  moment  he  ia 
down,  these  men  turn  (heir  hostile  eyes  towards  America,  the  only 
republic  left  upon  the  face  of  the  earth!  Our  quarrel  with  Ame- 
rica ceases  with  the  war.  There  being  peace  in  Europe,  the 
quarrel  is  at  an  end  without  any  discussions.  But  this  writer 
passes  over  all  the  subject  of  quarrel.  The  American  president 
and  government  are  bad.  That  is  now,  according  to  him,  to  be 
the  ground  of  the  war;  and  we  are  to  have  no  peace  with  them.  I 
will  pass  over  the  impudent  falsehoods  which  this  writer  utters  as 
to  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Madison,  and  the  nature  and  effects  of  the 
American  government;  and  come  at  once  to  what  is  most  interest- 
ing to  us  now;  namely,  first,  whether  a  war  for  the  recovery  of 
the  American  spates  as  colonies  would  be  popular  in  England ; 
and,  second,  whether  it  would  be  likely  to  succeed-  As  to  the 
first,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  expressing  my  belief,  that  it  would 
be,  for  a  while  at  least,  the  most  popular  war  in  which  England 
was  ever  engaged,  the  reasons  for  which  opinion  1  will  now  state. 
In  the  first  place,  peace,  real  and  lasting  peace,  and  a  vast  reduc- 
tion of  our  forces,  would  be  total  ruin  to  a  great  number  of  persons 
and  families.  All  these  will  wish  for  tvar,  no  matter  with  whom,  or 
upon  what  grounds.  They  will  be  for  the  war  for  the  same  reason 

19 


146  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

that  undertakers  are  for  deaths,  and  without  being,  any  more  than 
these,  chargeable  with  any  malicious  motive.  The  farmers  will  be 
for  war  upon  much  the  same  principles ;  they  being  of  opinion, 
no  matter  whether  erroneously  or  not,  that  war  makes  corn  dear. 
Here  are  two  very  numerous  classes  of  persons.  A  third  is  the 
land  owners  in  general,  who  believe  that  peace  will  lower  their 
rents  without  lowering  their  taxes.  The  ship  owners  and  builders 
fear  America,  who  can  build  and  sail  much  cheaper  than  they  can, 
and  who,  if  left  at  quiet,  would  cover  the  sea  with  their  ships.  The 
great  manufacturers  ever  will  be  for  a  war,  likely,  as  they  think  to 
tear  up,  root  and  branch,  those  establishments  which  are  not  only 
supplying  America  herself,  but  must,  in  a  few  years,  especially 
with  the  emigration  of  artisans  to  America,  become  our  rival,  and 
supplant  us  all  over  the  world.  Besides,  if  America  were  to  be 
recovered,  we  should,  they  think,  have  a  monopoly  of  supplying 
her.  Even  the  stockholders,  though  they  might  generally  wish 
for  peace,  might  probably  be  persuaded  that  the  recolonization  of 
America  would  afford  the  means  of  lessening  the  national  debt; 
that  America  might  be  made  to  bear  a  share  of  the  debt;  that 
the  lands  there  might  be  sold  for  our  account ;  and,  in  short,  that 
this  might  be  made  an  immense  source  of  income,  and  an  infallible 

^  ' 

security  to  the  paper  system.  Of  politicians  there  will  be  two 
descriptions  for  the  war:  one  will  see  in  America  a  dangerous 
maritime  rival ;  a  maritime  power  which  grows,  like  her  own  Indian 
corn,  almost  visible  to  the  eye.  They  will  mix  this  apprehension 
with  the  feelings  of  mortification  and  revenge  arising  from  the  naval 
victories  of  America,  which  are  not  be  washed  away  by  the  fall  of 
Napoleon,  nor  of  fifty  Napoleons  at  his  heels.  These  are  honour- 
able-minded men,  loving  their  country,  not  able  to  endure  the  idea 
of  her  ever,  at  any  time,  ceasing  to  be  mistress  of  the  ocean,  and 
so  terrified  at  that  idea  as  to  lose  sight,  in  the  pursuit  of  a  preven- 
tive remedy,  of  all  notions  of  justice,  humanity,  and  freedom.  An- 
other description  of  politicians,  animated  solely  by  their  hatred  of 
whatever  gives  liberty  to  man,  will  see  in  America  what,  indeed, 
they  have  always  seen,  and  for  which  they  have  always  hated  her, 
an  asylum  for  the  oppressed  ;  a  dwelling  for  real  liberty;  an  ex- 
ample of  a  people,  enjoying  the  height  of  prosperity  and  the  great- 
est safety  of  person  and  property,  without  any  hereditary  titles, 
without  any  army,  and  almost  without  taxes;  a  country,  where 
the  law  knows  nothing  about  religion  or  its  ministers  ;  where  every 
man  pursues  his  own  notions  in  religious  matters;  where  there  are 
i>o  sinecures,  no  pensions,  no  grants  of  public  money  to  individuals  ; 
where  the  people  at  large  choose  their  representatives  in  the 
legislature,  fSiefr  presidents,  governors,  and  sheriffs ;  where  bribery 
and  corruption  are  unknown;  and  where  the  putting  of  a  criminal 
1»)  death  is  nearly  as  rare  as  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  or  moon.  Thia 
description  of  politicians  look  at  America  as  Satan  is  said  to  have 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  147 

eyed  our  first  parents  in  the  garden  of  EJen  ;  not  with  feelings  of 
envy,  but  with  those  of  deadly  malice.     They  would  exterminate 
the  people,  and  burn  up  the  country.     The  example  of  such  a 
people,  "  sears  the  eye-balls."     They  will  tell  us,  that  while  that 
example  exists,  nothing  is  done;  nothing  is  secured;  nothing  is 
safe  ;  they  will  endeavour  to  terrify  the  government  and  the  nation 
by  describing  the  emigrations  which  will  take  place  from  Europe ; 
the  numbers  of  artisans  and  of  people  of  enterprise  that  will  crowd 
to  America,  adding  to  her  population,  extending  her  knowledge, 
increasing  her  means  of  all  sorts,  and  enabling  her,  in  a  short  time, 
to  spread  far  and  wide  what  they  call  her  disorganising  princi- 
ples.     This  last  description  of  politicians  have  the  press  greatly 
in  their  hands  ;  the  press  is  the  most  powerful  instrument ;  and  it 
will,    in  this  case,    have  prejudice,    supposed   private  interests, 
passion,  and  all,  in  favour  of  its  efforts.     These  are  the  reasons  on 
which  I  found  my  opinions  as  to  the  popularity  of  such  a  war ;  but 
yet  I  hope  and  trust  that  the  ministers  and  Prince  Regent  will  not 
be  carried  away  by  such  notions.     It  is  for  them  to  consider  what  is 
best  for  the  country,  and  permanently  best ;  and  not  to  suffer  their 
judgment  to  be  warped  by  an  outcry,  proceeding  from  the  selfish- 
ness of  some  and  the  rage  of  others.     With  regard  to  the  SECOND 
question,  whether  a  war  for  the  recolonization  of  America  would 
be  likely  to  succeed,  I  think  it  would  not.     I  must,  however,  con- 
fess that  I  agree  with  the  author  of  the  above  article,  that  "  the 
time  is  propitious"  in  the  highest  degree.     Not  only  have  we  an 
army  ready  organized;  composed  of  the  best  stuff;    best  com- 
manded ;  best  appointed  and  provided ;    best  disciplined  in  the 
world ;  but  we  do  not  know  what  to  do  with  it  in  the  way  of 
employment,  and  it  would  be,  for  a  year  at  least,  as  expensive  in 
peace  as  in  war.      We  have  more  than  a  sufficiency  of  ships  of 
war  to  carry  this  army  across  the  Atlantic,  without  crowding, 
and  without  the  aid  of  a  single  transport. 

In  Europe  we  have  nothing  to  fear ;  France  will,  for  some  years, 
have  enough  to  do  at  home.  It  is  the  same  in  Spain  and  Hol- 
land; and,  besides,  what  are  any  of  them  to  do  without  fleets,  and 
where,  in  the  whole  world,  is  there  a  fleet,  but  in  England?  Now, 
then,  what  are  the  Americans  to  do  against  this  army  and  this 
fleet  ?  I  have  no  doubt  that  our  army  would  waste  the  seacoast ; 
that  it  would  at  first  beat  the  Americans  wherever  they  met 
them;  that  it  would,  if  it  chose,  demolish  some  towns  and  oc- 
cupy others ;  that  it  would  make  the  congress  change  its  place 
of  sitting ;  but,  unless  the  states  divided,  I  have  no  idea  that  such 
a  war  would  finally  succeed ;  and  it  appears  to  me  that  the  fall  of 
Napoleon,  especially  coupled  with  what  will  be  deemed  the  ruin- 
ous language  of  the  TIMES  newspaper,  will  infallibly  silence  the 
voice  of  faction  in  America,  and  will  make  the  whole  of  the  peo- 
ple of  one  mind  as  to  the  necessity  of  providing  for  resistance. 


148  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Ksq. 

The  TIMES  seems  to  suppose  that  the  people  of  America,  or,  at. 
least,  a  part  of  (hem,  and  especially  in  the  eastern  states,  will 
heartily  participate  in  our  joy  at  the  fall  of  Napoleon  and  the  re- 
storation of  the  Bourbons.  Will  they  not,  on  the  contrary,  be  ter- 
ribly alarmed  ?  And  will  not  those  who  have  cried  out  against 
the  government  for  aiding  Napoleon,  as  they  called  it,  begin  to 
fear  the  consequences  of  his  fall,  when  the  project  of  the  Times 
reaches  their  ears,  and  when  they  find  that  there  are  writers  in 
England  who  already  openly  propose  to  make  war  upon  them  for 
the  express  purpose  of  subverting  their  government,  and  effecting 
in  America  what  has  been  effected  in  France,  namely,  a  restora- 
tion? Mr  Ames  is  complimented  by  this  writer  as  the  Burke  of 
Aiiierica,  and  I  dare  gay  that  Mr.  Ames  would  have  liked  very  well 
to  get  a  pension  of  three  thousand  pounds  a  year;  but  in  that  re- 
spect he  was  not  so  lucky  as  his  great  prototype.  Mr.  Ames 
was  a  poor  drivelling  hankerer  after  aristocracy.  His  party  wished 
to  establish  a  sort  of  petty  noblesse :  they  wanted  to  make  some  ho- 
norary distinction.  The  people  took  the  alarm ;  put  them  out  of 
power,  and  they  have  ever  since  been  endeavouring  to  tear  out  the 
vitals  of  their  country.  The  fall  of  Napoleon,  however,  will  leave 
them  wholly  without  support  from  the  people,  when  that  people 
bears  that  the  first  consequence  of  that  fall  is  a  proposition  in  the 
English  public  prints  to  treat  THEIR  government  as  that  of 
Napoleon  has  been  treated,  and  upon  precisely  the  same  principle, 
namely,  that  it  is  a  despolism.  As  I  said  before,  I  trust  that  our 
government  is  too  wise  to  be  led  to  the  adoption  of  any  such  pro- 
ject ;  but  if  they  were,  what  could  our  friends  in  America  say  ? 
They  have  been  asserting  for  years  past,  that  ours  was  the  cause 
of  freedom  against  a  despot.  \Vhat  will  they  say  if  we  make  war 
upon  them  upon  the  same  principle,  and  for  the  same  end,  that  we 
have  been  making  war  against  Napoleon  ?  By  Mr.  Jefferson  and 
his  party  it  was  always  concluded  that  there  was  no  danger  to  be 
apprehended  from  France  under  any  circumstances ;  and  that  if 
France,  if  the  new  order  of  things  was  subdued  in  France,  Ame- 
rica would  be  in  great  danger.  Therefore,  they  always  wished, 
and  (hey  acted  as  if  they  wished,  that  France  should  not  be  defeat- 
ed in  the  result  of  the  war.  It  is  in  our  power,  by  making  peace 
with  them  at  once,  and  waiving  all  dispute  about  differences  that 
cannot  arise  during  peace,  to  show  them  that  their  fears  were 
groundless;  but  will  they  not,  when  they  see  the  project  of  the 
TIMES  newspaper,  bold  it  up  to  the  teeth  of  their  political  adver- 
saries, and  say,  "  look  here  /"  Here  is  the  first  fruits  of  the  fall  of 
the  man  whose  destruction  you  told  us  we  ought  to  assist  in  pro- 
ducing, and  to  do  any  thing,  "  in  the  upholding  of  whom,  you  re- 
presented as  impolitic  and  base."  This  will  be  the  language  to 
those  adversaries  who  will  hang  their  heads  with  shame,  unless  the 
author  of  the  Times  can  make  a  shift,  somehow  or  other,  to  con- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  149 

vey  to  them  a  small  portion  of  his  impudence.  I  think  it  is  clear, 
then,  that  the  people  of  America  would,  in  case  such  a  war  were 
to  be  made  upon  them,  be  united  in  a  spirit  of  resistance ;  and  if 
they  were,  I  have  no  idea  that  (en  such  armies  as  all  that  we  could 
send,  well  disciplined  and  brave  as  our  army  is,  would  finally  suc- 
ceed in  subduing  and  recolonizing  the  country.  We  might  make 
inroads  from  Canada ;  we  might  demolish  towns  upon  the  coast ; 
we  might  destroy  manufactories  ;  we  might  lay  waste  the  cornfields, 
and  burn  many  of  the  mills;  we  might  destroy  all  the  shipping; 
we  might  tear  the  country  a  good  deal  to  pieces  ;  but  I  do  nof  be- 
lieve that  we  should,  even  by  adding  another  eight  hundred  mil- 
lions to  our  debt,  secure  one  single  colony  in  the  territory  now- 
called  the  United  States  of  America.  Yet,  it  is  really  true, 
that  the  enemies  of  freedom,  while  America  remains  what  she  now 
is,  have  gained  nothing.  Napoleon  has  been  put  down  ;  but  then 
he  was  an  enemy  of  freedom.  He  was  not  owned  by  any  friend 
of  freedom.  France  was  not  a  republic,  nor  had  she  a  representa- 
tive government  under  him.  The  war  against  him  was  in  the 
name,  at  least,  of  the  people.  The  example  so  hateful  to  the  ene- 
mies of  liberty,  of  a  people  happy  and  free,  without  distinction  of 
ranks,  without  an  established  church,  without  hereditary  power  or 
privilege  of  any  sort,  with  a  press  now  perfectly  free,  with  legisla- 
lators  and  chief  magistrates  periodically  elected  by  the  people  at 
large  ;  this  example  still  exists,  and  the  country  is  yet  open  to  all  the 
world  ;  and  to  put  down  this  example  would,  I  am  of  opinion,  cost 
us  more  blood  and  more  money  than  it  has  cost  to  put  down  Na- 
poleon. The  enemies  of  freedom  promised  us  peace  durable,  if 
we  got  rid  of  Napoleon ;  but  scarcely  is  he  down,  when  they  pro- 
pose to  us  a  new  war,  more,  if  possible,  expensive  in  its  nature, 
and  probably  longer  in  its  duration.  To  be  sure,  America  holds  out 
an  alluring  bait ;  it  presents  employment  for  governors  of  provinces, 
commanders,  postmasters,  attorneys  and  solicitors  general,  secreta- 
ries, counsellors  of  state,  taxing  people,  paymasters,  judges,  and 
a  long  and  nameless  list  of  hangers-on ;  but,  again  I  say,  I  hope 
and  trust  that  the  Prince  Regent  and  his  ministers  will  have  too 
much  wisdom  to  listen  to  any  such  mad  and  wicked  project.  It 
is  impossible,  however,  for  the  people  of  A.nerica  not  to  feel  some 
alarm,  and  not  to  make  preparations  accordingly.  This  language 
of  our  newspapers  is  quite  enough  to  excite  apprehensions ;  and 
for  this,  amongst  the  rest,  we  have  to  curse  a  base  and  degenerate 
press. 


150  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 


AMERICA. 

AN  article  which  appeared  in  the  Times  newspaper  of  Monday 
last,  makes  me  regret  exceedingly  that  the  Regent  did  not  answer 
that  part  of  the  city  address  which  expresses  a  hope  that  "  a 
period  is  put  to  the  ravages  of  mar  ;  and  that  we  may  henceforth 
participate  in  the  advantages  of  a  friendly  and  uninterrupted 
intercourse  with  all  the  nations  of  the  world."  I  regret  that  hii 
Royal  Highness  did  not  speak  to  and  echo  this  sentiment,  because 
the  article  above  alluded  to  states,  that  there  is  to  be  a  stipulation 
in  the  definitive  treaty  of  peace,  by  which  all  the  allied  powers,  and 
France,  are  to  bind  themselves  not  to  interfere  in  the  war  which 
England  may  carry  on  against  the  United  States  of  America. 
This  article  is  published  as  dated,  and  as  having  been  pub- 
lished, at  Vienna.  It  is,  doubtless,  wholly  false,  (hough  it  is  very 
difficult  to  account  for  its  being  published  in  the  capital  of  the 
Austrian  government,  where  intelligence  of  this  sort  seems  so  un- 
likely to  be  fabricated.  Perhaps  the  Times  newspaper,  which 
has  cried  out  so  loudly  for  no  peace  with  James  Madison,  and 
has  openly  proposed  to  detach  part  of  the  states  from  the  con- 
federation, has  fabricated  the  article  itself,  by  way  of  feeling  the 
public  pulse.  Be  this  as  it  may,  the  idea  exists,  and  the  promul- 
gation of  it  must  have  a  very  bad  effect ;  for  though  it  is  impos- 
sible to  believe  that  the  Prince  Regent  would  propose  any  such 
stipulation,  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  the  very  mention  of  it  in 
our  prints  will  tend  to  make  the  Americans  more  exasperated  than 
they  were  before. 

The  effect  of  this  mischievous  article  would  have  been,  by 
anticipation,  completely  destroyed  by  a  single  word  from  the  Re- 
gent echoing  the  wish  for  universal  peace  expressed  by  the  city 
of  London.  I  am  aware  that  his  Royal  Highness,  by  a  speedy 
adjustment  of  all  differences  with  America,  which,  indeed,  do 
themselves  away  by  the  existence  of  peace  in  Europe,  will  greatly 
disappoint  the  feeders  on  war  and  the  enemies  of  freedom.  As 
to  the  former,  they  might  be  satisfied  with  profits  equal  to  the 
profits  of  war;  but  the  latter,  nothing  short  of  the  extermination 
of  the  very  name  of  republic  will  satisfy.  They  see,  in  the  exist- 
ence of  Ihe  republic  of  America,  danger  little  short  of  what  they 
saw  in  (he  republic  of  France.  They  see  in  it  a  receptacle  for 
the  oppressed  and  enterprising  of  all  nations.  They  see  in  it  an 
example  of  freedom,  morality,  and  happiness,  the  bare  thought  of 
which  puts  them  (o  the  torture.  If  they  could  consolidate  all  the 
peojrte  -of  America  into  one  carcass,  they  would,  having  an  arm 
sufficiently  strong,  and  an  arm  sufficiently  long,  cut  their  throat 
al  a  single  g;ish.  Such  men,  if  men  we  ought  to  call  such  mon- 


Letters  of  William  C'obbett,  Esq.  151 

sters,  talk  with  delight  of  the  sending  of  Lord  Wellington's 
army  to  the  United  States  ;  they  revel  in  the  idea  of  burning  the 
cities  and  towns,  the  mills  and  manufactories  of  that  country ;  at 
the  very  least,  they  talk  of  forcing  Mr.  Madison  from  his  seat, 
and  new-modelling  the  government.  They  endeavour  to  excite 
all  the  hostile  passions  here.  They  are  always  ripping  up  our 
defeated  and  captured  frigates,  without  appearing  to  recollect 
that  we,  at  any  rate,  defeated  and  took  one  /ri  *>  ate  from  tlie  Ame- 
ricans. Why  then  urge  us  on  to  revenge  ?  Can  any  revenge  that 
we  can  take  do  away  these  pages  of  history,  any  more  than  the 
dethronement  of  Napoleon  can  do  away  the  history  of  the  battles 
of  Austerlitz,  Jena,  and  Eylau  ?  At  other  times  they  tell  us  of 
the  danger  which,  as  manufacturers,  we  have  to  apprehend  from 
America,  who  is  now,  in  her  turn,  becoming  an  exporter  of  woollen 
and  of  cotton  goods.  And  why  should  they  not  export  woollens 
and  cottons  as  well  as  we  ?  What  reason  is  there  that  they  should 
not  become  a  commercial  nation  as  well  as  we  or  the  Dutch  ? 
These  latter  used  to  have,  exclusively,  the  making  of  Gods  fop 
the  Portuguese  and  Spaniards  j  but,  for  my  part,  I  see  no  harm 
that  would  arise  from  it,  if  the  Americans,  who  have  such  abun- 
dance of  wood,  were  to  supply  this  article  to  all  the  catholic  coun- 
tries of  Europe,  as  doubtless  there  will  now  be  a  great  call  for  it, 
seeing  that  the  pope  (to  the  great  joy  of  this  protestant  country) 
is  now  restored  to  his  See. 

But  in  spite  of  the  justice  and  reasonableness  of  these  senti- 
ments, they  do  not,  and  will  not,  prevail  amongst  the  manufacturers 
in  England,  who  will  look  with  jealousy  and  hatred  towards  Ame- 
rica ;  and  perceiving  no  other  way  of  arresting  her  astonishing 
progress  in  the  manufacturing  line  than  that  of  tearing  her  to  pieces 
by  war,  they  will  be  for  war  with  her  at  any  expense  and  at  any 
risk.  The  ship  owners  know  well  that  they  have  no  chance  in  a 
fair  competition  with  the  Americans.  They  know  that  the  latter 
can  build,  sail,  and  carry  at  half  the  price  necessary  to  English 
ships.  This  class,  therefore,  will  be  for  war.  The  mercantile 
marine  will  breed  ships  of  war.  This  is  an  object  of  terror  with 
those  who  look  far  forward,  and  who  are  unable  to  support  the 
idea  of  England  ever,  at  any  time,  becoming  the  second  maritime 
nation  in  the  world,  as  in  twenty  years'  time  she  must,  unless  the 
growth  of  the  American  naval  power  can  be  checked.  When  we 
look  back  to  what  America  was  in  the  year  1784,  that  is,  thirty 
years  ago,  and  see  what  progress  she  has  made,  and  how  that 
progress  has  gone  on  increasing  in  its  velocity,  it  is  impossible 
not  to  perceive,  that  unless  she  receive  some  very  severe  check, 
she  must  be  equal,  at  least,  to  England,  in  naval  power,  even  in 
the  course  of  ten  years.  This  opinion  is  general  with  those  who 
reflect  upon  the  subject;  and,  therefore,  it  is  not  astonishing  that 
some,  even  good  men,  who  do  not  hate  freedom  in  the  abstract, 


162  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

should  be  anxious  to  see  her  growth  checked,  either  by  demolish- 
ing her  towns,  her  ships,  her  means  of  strength  of  all  sorts,  or  by 
dividing  her  states.  There  are  those,  too,  who,  looking  at  the 
fearful  magnitude  of  our  debt,  and  in  despair  of  seeing  it  reduced 
by  any  system  of  economy,  have  an  idea  that  it  would  be  as  well 
to  venture  upon  a  war  of  conquest  with  America,  in  order  to  obtain 
the  meaus  to  pay  off  part  at  least  of  this  debt.  They  *ee  in  that 
boundless  country  lands  to  sell,  and  a  great  population  to  tax. 
They  imagine  they  will  find  means  as  boundless  as  the  debt  itself; 
and  mad  as  the  notion  of  a  war  upon  such  grounds  may  seern  to 
the  Americans,  they  may  be  assured  that  there  are  numerous 
persons  in  England  who  entertain  it.  Then  think  of  the  delightful 
prospect  which  seventeen  or  eighteen  provinces  hold  out  to  the 
hunters  after  places !  Such  cargoes  of  governors,  commanders  in 
chief,  staffs,  port  admirals  and  officers,  custom  house  and  excise 
people,  attorneys  and  solicitors  general,  judges,  doctors,  proctors, 
paymasters,  commissaries,  and  though  last,  not  least,  bishops, 
priests,  and  deacons.  Only  think  of  this,  and  wonder  not  that 
there  are  persons  who  wish  for  the  recolonizatiou  of  America. 

But  as  the  subjects  of  dispute  with  that  country  cease  of  them- 
selves with  the  war  in  Europe,  let  us  hope  that  all  these  wild 
notions  will  be  soon  dissipated  by  the  Regent's  ministers,  who  will, 
doubtless,  lose,  now,  not  a  moment  in  giving  real  peace  to  the 
nation.  I  must  confess,  however,  that  I  should  like  to  see  the 
ugly  paragraph  to  which  I  have  alluded  plainly  contradicted  by 
something  like  official  authority.  It  appeared  in  the  Times 
newspaper  of  the  2d  of  May  in  the  following  words  :  The  treaty 
of  C'hanmont  is  published  in  the  same  print  of  the  same  day,  from 
the  Vienna  Gazette ;  and  after  the  treaty  there  follows,  as  also 
taken  from  the  Vienna  paper,  this  paragraph  : 

"  it  is  affirmed,  that  beside  the  conventions  which  England  has 
concluded  with  the  other  allied  powers,  il  has  also  made  a  secret 
agreement  relative  to  North  America.  By  this  agreement  Eng- 
land has  procured  from  all  the  other  European  powers  the  assu- 
rance, that  after  the  re-establishment  of  peace  in  Europe,  none  of 
them  mill  interfere  in  the  disputes  between  his  Brilannic  Majesty 
and  North  America,  and  France  is  also  to  engage,  in  the  peace 
to  be  concluded,  to  subscribe  to  the  same  conditions." 

This,  as  the  reader  will  observe  well,  was  first  published  at  Vi- 
enna on  the  9lh  of  April,  and  accompanied  the  publication  of  the 
treaty  of  Chauruont.  If  the  paragraph  be  not  a  fabrication  here9 
it  is  very  strange  indeed,  it  being  well  known,  that  at  Vienna  the 
press  is  under  a  rigid  inspection  and  control.  Why  any  such 
stipulation  as  this?  What  need  was  there  of  any,  seeing  that  we 
have  now  no  dispute  with  America,  the  very  subjects  of  dispute 
having  ceased  to  exist  will)  the  war  in  Europe.  The  dispute  re- 
lated to  the  taking  of  people  out  of  American  ships  upon  the  high 


Letters  of  William  Vobbett,  Esq.  153 

seas,  upon  (be  ground  of  being  English  subjects,  and  also  to  the 
extent  of  the  right  of  blockade  and  other  matters  touching  neu- 
trals during  war.  Peace  with  all  nations,  of  course,  takes  away 
the  very  subject  of  dispute;  and  WHY,  therefore,  should  England 
have  made  a  secret  agreement,  in  order  to  prevent  any  of  the  other 
powers,  France  included,  from  taking  part  in  this  dispute,  "  after 
the  re-establishment  of  peace  in  Europe  ?"  If  I  could  believe, 
as  I  yet  cannot,  in  the  existence  of  such  an  agreement,  I  should 
begin  to  fear  that  the  regent  and  his  ministers  were  bent  upon  a 
war  of  recolonising,  or  at  least  of  devastation,  in  the  United  States ; 
that  they  had  listened  to  the  suggestions  of  those  who,  for  the  se- 
veral reasons  that  I  have  stated,  desire  the  destruction  or  the  con- 
quest of  these  states,  and  that  we  were  doomed  now  to  be  engaged 
in  a  most  expensive  and  bloody  war,  while  all  the  rest  of  Europe 
enjoyed  profound  peace  ;  that  the  time  was  not  yet  to  arrive  when 
our  burdens  were  to  be  lightened,  when  guineas  were  to  return, 
and  when  we  were,  once  before  we  died,  to  say  that  our  country 
was  living  in  friendship  with  all  the  world. 

If  this  war  were  to  be  resolved  on  by  our  government,  (which 
God  forbid !)  it  must  be  confessed  that  there  would  not  be  want- 
ing the  ready  means  of  carrying  it  on  with  deadly  effect.  We 
have  more  soldiers,  more  ships,  more  horses,  more  arms  and  am- 
munition ;  more,  in  short,  of  all  the  instruments  of  war,  than  we 
know  what  to  do  with.  Our  army  is  well  disciplined  ;  abundantly 
supplied  with  good  officers ;  brave  in  its  nature ;  accustomed  to 
victory  !  Our  navy  is  in  the  same  state.  The  European  war  has 
ended  so  suddenly,  and  was  upon  so  large  a  scale,  that  there  are 
provisions  and  stores  on  hand  more  than  sufficient,  perhaps,  for  a 
year's  war  in  America.  The  undertaking,  therefore,  would  be  by 
no  means  chimerical,  though,  in  the  end,  I  think  it  would  fail.  If 
such  a  war,  and  for  the  purpose  urged  in  our  public  prints,  should 
be  entered  on,  it  is  probable  that  the  German  legion,  being  sub- 
jects of  our  king,  might  be  amongst  the  troops  sent  out.  This  ia 
no  contemptible  army  of  itself;  horse,  foot,  artillery,  engineers; 
all  well  appointed,  provided,  and  commanded.  In  short,  there 
will  be  no  difficulty  in  sending  out  an  army  of  fifty  or  eighty  thou 
sand  men,  beside  sailors  and  marines.  To  prevent  their  landing 
would  be  impossible  ;  and  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  say,  that  the 
whole  of  the  ships  of  the  states,  and  all  the  maritime  towns,  must 
fall  upon  the  approach  of  only  a  fourth  part  of  such  an  army ;  un~ 
less  the  Americans  should,  previous  to  its  landing,  be  cured  of 
their  self-confidence,  and  lay  by  the  plough  for  a  while  for  the  use 
of  the  musket. 

I  trust  in  the  justice  of  his  Royal  Highness,  the  regent,  for  the 
rejection  of  such  a  project — but,  if  it  were  to  be  adopted,  I  know 
it  would  be  popular;  and  I  also  see,  as  every  man  must,  that  the 
powers  of  Europe,  if  incited  to  aid  America,  are  unable  to  do  it* 

20 


154  Letters  of  William  Cobbdt,  Esq. 

They  have,  all  put  together,  not  fleets  enough  to  face  six  English 
men  of  war.  The  maritime  strength  of  the  whole  world  now  cen- 
tres in  these  islands.  The  Americans,  I  hear,  rely  upon  the 
friendship  of  Russia.  Alas  !  what  have  they  to  offer  the  empe- 
ror of  Russia  in  return  for  his  friendship  ?  This  is  nonsense. 
The  emperor  of  Russia  has  other  objects  of  his  attention ;  and,  be- 
sides, if  we  really  were  to  give  credit  to  the  article  from  Vienna, 
that  point  is  settled  at  once.  So  that  if  this  war  were  to  be  re- 
solved on,  it  would  soon  be  seen  that  the  politics  of  the  federal- 
ists, as  they  are  called,  have  been  wrong  from  the  beginning ;  and 
that  Mr.  Madison,  so  often  accused  of  being  the  tool  of  Napoleon, 
will  have  to  remind  his  antagonists,  that  if  America,  in  good  ear- 
ned, had  taken  the  side  of  France  a  few  years  ago,  she  would  not 
now,  in  ail  probability,  have  to  tremble  lest  the  advice  of  the  Times 
newspaper  should  be  acted  upon.  Luckily  for  the  power  of 
England,  and  for  the  family  of  Bourbon,  Mr.  Madison  and  his 
party  kept  aloof  from  Napoleon  for  the  sake  of  a  political  princi- 
ple, united  with  the  fear  of  being  reproached  with  plunging  their 
country  into  a  war  on  the  side  of  a  despot  and  a  conqueror.  But 
it  would,  if  the  Times'  project  were  adopted,  become  evident  to 
all  the  world,  that  such  policy  had  been  the  ruin  of  the  United 
Slates.  I  repeat,  however,  my  confident  hope,  that  the  regent 
and  his  ministers  are  too  just  and  too  moderate  in  their  views,  to 
listen  for  one  moment  to  any  such  ambitious  and  sanguinary  pro- 
ject, against  which  it  is  my  duty  to  endeavour  to  guard  them,  as  I 
know  that  there  will  not  be  wanting  numbers,  through  the  press 
and  otherwise,  to  urge  its  adoption.  The  whole  world  beside 
does  not,  perhaps,  contain  so  many  deadly  enemies  of  freedom  as 
England  alone.  It  is  here  alone  where  we  see  it  recommended  to 
keep  the  allied  armies  longer  in  France  ;  it  is  here  alone  where  we 
hear  it  said,  and  see  it  promulgated,  that  Napoleon  ought  to  be 
hanged  with  his  code  of  laws  about  his  neck;  it  is  here  alone 
where  we  see  publications  recommending  to  the  king  of  France  to 
punish  the  late  republicans  ;  it  is  here  alone  where  the  press 
openly  expresses  its  dread  of  the  king  of  France  being  too  lenient. 
This  description  of  persons  will  never  be  at  heartrs  ease  while  the 
people  ot  America  are  free,  and  while  America  is  a  receptacle  for 
the  oppressed.  And,  indeed,  upon  their  principle,  they  are  right. 
If  they  will  insist  upon  regarding  the  result  of  the  war  iu  Europe 
as  valuable  only  on  account  of  its  having  destroyed  republicanism 
in  Europe,  they  are  perfectly  consistent  in  urging  a  war  against 
America,  and  even  a  war  of  recolonization  ;  for  unless  that  object 
be  accomplished ;  unless  the  cradle  of  the  revolution  become  also 
its  grave,  little  or  nothing  has  been  gained  over  the  principle  of 
republicanism.  America,  now  holding  out  her  hand  to  manufac- 
turers, as  well  as  cultivators  of  the  soil,  cannot,  if  she  remain  what 
site  is,  fail  to  attract  prodigious  numbers  of  Europeans,  of  all  na- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  155 

tions,  to  her  prolific  and  happy  shores.  Discontent  at  the  chan- 
ges which  have  now  taken  place ;  despair  of  ever  seeing  that  which 
they  before  had  hopes  of  Jiving  to  see  ;  shame  to  remain  on  the 
spot  where  their  hopes  have  been  baffled,  and  their  endeavours 
frustrated ;  insurmountable  hatred  of  power  to  which  they  are  com- 
pelled to  submit,  and  to  the  support  of  which  they  are  compelled 
to  contribute ;  the  weight  of  taxation ;  the  spirit  of  enterprise ; 
the  hope  of  bettering  their  lot  in  all :  these  will,  if  America  be  at 
peace,  and  the  road  free  and  clear,  carry  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  Europeans  to  her  shores.  Artisans,  manufacturers  of  all  de- 
scriptions, and  especially  of  the  most  clever  aud  most  enterprising 
men.  The  augmentation  of  her  population  will  be  hastened  ;  her 
maritime  and  all  other  means  will  increase ;  and  it  will  be  not  at 
all  surprising  to  see  her,  in  ten  years,  in  a  situation  to  send  forth 
fifty  ships  of  the  line,  manned  and  commanded  as  well  as  our  own. 

I  confess  that  this  will  be  the  natural  consequence  of  leaving 
her  what  she  now  is,  and  that  in  any  war  at  ten  years  hence,  she 
will  be  able  almost  to  dictate  to  us  both  the  time  and  the  conditions 
of  peace,  there  being  a  limit  to  our  growth  of  power,  and  none  to 
hers.  But  for  all  this  1  am  decidedly  for  leaving  her  to  herself. 
Her  states  may  divide  of  themselves.  That  will  make  her  com- 
paratively weak ;  whereas,  by  a  war,  we  should  unite  them  much 
closer  than  they  now  are.  We  may,  too,  fail  in  the  object  of  the 
war.  After  expending  two  or  three  hundred  millions  of  money, 
we  may  be  compelled  to  make  peace  with  her  as  an  independent 
republic,  having  greatly  weakened  ourselves  by  the  attempt  to 
subdue  her,  tarnished  our  own  military  reputation,  fixed  her  fame 
forever  in  the  minds  of  men,  and  what  in  the  eyes  of  some  per- 
sons would  be  worse  than  all  thejrest,  established  upon  a  rock, 
never  to  be  shaken,  the  principles  of  freedom  and  of  republican 
government. 

I  have  thus  taken  a  rather  extensive  view  of  this  subject ;  but 
to  those  who  are  for  a  war  with  America,  in  order,  as  the  Times 
calls  it,  t»  finish  the  good  work  which  so  happily  begun  in 
France,  it  might  have  been  sufficient  to  observe,  in  very  few- 
words,  that  our  choice  lies  between  these  two  things  :  either  to 
suffer  America  to  remain  the  nurse  of  freedom,  the  receptacle  of 
the  oppressed  of  all  nations,  an  example  of  liberty,  security,  and 
happiness,  enjoyed  under  an  elective  government,  without  heredi- 
tary rights,  or  established  church ;  or  to  continue  to  pay  the 
property-tax,  and  to  see  our  debt  yearly  increased  by  loans. 
flere,  Johnny  Bull,  you  have  your  choice.  Which  of  the  two 
j*ou  may  take,  I  really  cannot  pretend  to  say  ;  and  so  upon  this 
subject  I  must  wait  patiently  the  result  of  your  profound  cogitations. 

As  to  the  state  of  opinions  in  America,  it  appears  that,  having 
heard  the  low  state  of  Napoleon's  affairs,  the  people  there  were 
counting  with  confidence  on  an  immediate  peace.  They  had  not 


156  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

then  heard  of  the  actual  dethronement  of  Napoleon,  and  of  the 
consequent  language  of  our  public  prints,  accompanied  with  state- 
ments relative  to  troops  immediately  to  be  sent  off  to  America. 
What  effect  these  will  produce  in  the  minds  of  the  people  and  of 
the  government  there,  I  know  not ;  but  so  slowly  do  they  gene- 
rally move,  it  is  not  probable  that  the  troops  will  meet  with  any 
thiiu  like  an  army  to  oppose  them.  The  Americans  have  BO 
experienced  officers.  They  have  no  discipline.  They  will,  too, 
I  dare  say,  think  that,  because  they  beat  England  in  the  last  war, 
they  can  do  it  again,  and  much  easier,  having  now  five  times  as 
numerous  a  population.  But,  in  the  first  place,  they  will  not  have 
to  contend  against  such  generals  as  they  had  to  contend  against, 
before,  nor  such  officers  and  soldiers.  They  will,  if  our  troops 
really  should  land  in  tbeir  country,  have  to  contend  with  those 
who  have  defeated  French  armies;  with  skill  ot  all  sorts;  expe- 
rience in  the  men  as  well  as  the  officers  ;  with  courage,  discipline, 
and  the  habit  of  victory.  All  these  will  require  something  more 
than  the  Americans  have  yet  thought  of.  Then,  in  the  last  war, 
America  had  three  great  maritime  powers  on  her  side,  and  one 
power  to  send  her  aid  in  officers  and  men.  Do  they  now 
look  for  assistance  from  the  friendship  of  Ferdinand,  or  of  Louis, 
or  of  the  sovereign  prince  of  the  Netherlands  ?  Which  of  the 
three  do  they  intend  to  apply  to?  Or  do  they  expect  that  the 
emperor  of  Russia,  who  is  shortly  to  come  on  a  visit  to  England, 
•will,  in  order  to  preserve  their  liberty,  send  an  army  of  Cossack.-* 
to  their  assistance  round  by  the  way  of  Kamschatka  ? 

Verily,  Jonathan,  if  you  repose  in  such  vain  hopes  you  are 
upon  your  last  legs,  if  the  project  of  our  public  writers  be  adopt- 
ed by  the  government.  It  appears  that  you  have  negotiators  in 
Europe;  and,  I  have  heard,  (hat  they  have  a  great  opinion  of  their 
powers  of  speech.  They,  or,  rather  you,  will,  in  due  time,  feel 
the  consequence  of  this  error,  if  it  be  persevered  in  long.  We 
here,  do  not  make  such  long  speeches  in  our  diplomatic  discussions. 
"We  are  more  laconic;  but  we  use  arguments  of  mifch  greater 
force  than  yours.  Whether  it  be  owing  to  our  European  climate, 
•which,  by  making  the  stage  of  maturity  more  tardy  in  arriving, 
communicates  more  vigour  to  the  mind  as  well  as  the  body,  from 
causes  similar  to  those  which  render  fhe  oak  more  solid  and  dura- 
ble than  the  poplar;  or,  to  that  necessity  of  industry  which  habitu- 
ates us  to  despatch,  I  cannot  tell :  but,  certain  it  is,  that  our  nego- 
tiators have  a  much  shorter  way  of  going  to  work  than  yours,  and 
that  they  seldom  fail  to  be  much  more  successful.  You  have  re- 
cently seen  what  a  shilly-shally  state  the  powers  of  the  continent 
were  in  till  our  Lord  Custlereagh  got  amongst  their  counsellors. 
They  were  talking  about  leaving  to  the  Emperor  Napoleon  a 
much  greater  extent  of  territory  than  France,  under  her  kings, 
ever  knew.  You  have  seen  how  soon  matters  changed  after  the 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  15T 

arrival  of  his  lordship.  You  have  seen  the  result ;  and,  having 
seen  fhat,  rely,  if  you  will,  on  the  superior  powers  of  talking  pos- 
sessed by  your  negotiators !  Perhaps  you  may  take  it  into 
your  head  that  negotiators,  to  be  chosen  from  amongst  OUR 
FRIENDS,  THE  FEDERALISTS ;  that  two  or  three  of  those 
"  Burkes  of  the  Western  Hemisphere,"  of  whom  the  Times 
newspaper  speaks;  perhaps,  it  may  come  into  your  noddle,  that 
negotiators  picked  out  from  amongst  these  friends  of  "  social  or- 
der and  regular  government,"  will  be  likely  to  succeed  better  than 
those  who  were  not  for  open  war  against  Napoleon.  Try,  then, 
Jonathan ;  and  be  sure  to  fix  upon  gentlemen  who  think  them- 
selves very  clever,  and  love,  of  all  things,  to  hear  themselves  talk. 
Be  sure  to  send  men  deeply  read  in  Vattel  and  Puffendorf,  and 
who  will  write  volumes  in  folio  in  answer  to  six  lines  from  our  se- 
cretary of  state.  I  think  that,  in  order  to  conciliate,  your  best 
way  will  be  to  send  negotiators,  who,  in  following  up  the  senti- 
ments of  Mr.  Randolph,  will  lay  all  the  blame  of  your  hostility 
upon  the  democrats,  or  jacobins ,  who  have  emigrated  to  you  from 
England  and  Ireland;  and  if  you  were  to  propose  to  sive  them 
up  to  their  natural  sovereign,  it  might,  perhaps,  as  Mr.  Randolph 
would  think,  obtain  you  peace  upon  better  terms.  Try  it,  Jona- 
than, and  see  what  effect  it  will  have !  In  short,  try,  in  all  man- 
ner of  ways,  the  powers  of  talking Alas !  to  be  serious 

with  you,  your  safety  lies  now  in  the  forbearance,  the  magnanimi- 
ty, the  compassion  of  his  Royal  Highness  the  Prince  Regent  of 
England ;  and,  I  trust,  especially  for  the  sake  of  the  quakers  in 
Pennsylvania,  that  you  will  find  this  a  safe  reliance.  While  the 
Emperor  Napoleon  wielded  the  arms  of  France,  you  thought  your- 
selves in  no  danger.  But  him  you  did  not  like.  He  did  not  dress 
to  your  fancy.  One  party  amongst  you  abused  him,  and  the 
other  disclaimed  all  desire  to  aid  his  views.  Volumes  did  your 
negotiators  write  to  convince  us  that  you  did  nothing  to  favour 
him.  You  got  into  a  nice,  snug  little  war  of  your  own.  Still 
independent,  you  were  at  war  with  one  of  the  great  belligerents, 
and  so  far  from  allying  yourself  with  the  other,  you  contrived  to 
keep  up  your  quarrel  with  him,  and  could  hardly  be  said  to  be  at 
peace  with  your  powerful  enemy's  only  powerful  enemy.  Lucki- 
ly for  us,  you  adopted  this  policy,  and  persevered  in  it  to  the  last. 
You  appear  to  have  put  your  little  independent  war  as  a  sort  of 
episode  into  the  grand  drama  ;  but  it  was  acting  contrary  to  all  the 
rules  of  composition  not  to  close  the  episode  before  the  end  of  the 
piece.  You  may,  '\  hope,  safely  rely  upon  the  moderation  and 
magnanimity  of  our  Prince  Regent,  acting  in  the  name  and  in  behalf 
of  his  majesty ;  but  I  do  assure  you,  that  that  is  your  only  reliance; 
for  if  you  were  rooted  out  to  the  last  man,  your  fate  would  excite 
very  little  commiseration  in  Europe.  You  thought  that  you 
would  hold  the  balance  between  England  and  France.  What  fol- 


1 58  Letters  of  William  Cobbdl,  Esq. 

ly  and  presumption !  But  it  is  vain  to  talk.  This  is  a  disease  of 
the  mind,  of  which  nations  are  never  cured  but  at  the  cannon's 
mouth ;  and  though  I  could  wish  much  to  see  you  cured,  I  can- 
not bring  myself  to  approve  of  the  application  of  the  remedy. 
Since  writing  the  above,  the  following  important  declaration  from 
our  admiralty  has  come  to  hand.  The  Americans  will,  1  dare  say, 
not  think  it  altogether  a  joke. 

«  Admiralty  Office,  April  30,  1814. 

"The  lords  commissioners  of  the  admiralty  cannot  announce 
to  the  fleet  the  termination  of  hostilities  with  France,  without 
expressing  to  the  petly  officers,  seamen,  and  royal  marines  of 
his  majesty's  ships,  the  high  sense  which  their  lordships  enter- 
tain of  their  gallant  and  glorious  services  during  the  late  war. 
The  patience,  perseverance,  and  discipline ;  the  skill,  courage, 
and  devotion,  with  which  the  seamen  and  marines  have  upheld 
the  best  interests,  and  achieved  the  noblest  triumphs  of  the  coun- 
try, entitle  them  to  the  gratitude,  not  only  of  their  native  land, 
which  they  have  preserved  inviolate,  but  of  the  other  nations  of 
Europe,  of  whose  ultimate  deliverance  their  successes  maintain- 
ed the  hope,  and  accelerated  the  accomplishment.     Their  lord- 
ships regret  that  the  unjust  and  unprovoked  aggression  of  the 
American  government,  in  declaring  war  upon  this  country,  after 
all  the  causes  of  its  original  complaint  had  been  removed)  does 
not  permit  them  to  reduce  the  fleet  at  once  to  a  peace  establish- 
ment; but  as  the  question  now  at  issue  in  this  war  is  the  mainte- 
nance of  those  maritime  rights  which  are  the  sure  foundations  of 
our  naval  glory,  their  lordships  look  with  confidence  to  that  part 
of  the  fleet  which  it  may  be  still  necessary  to  keep  in  commission, 
for  a  continuance  of  that  spirit  of  discipline  and  gallantry  which 
has  raised  the  British  navy  to  its  present  pre-eminence.     In  re- 
ducing the  fleet  to  the  establishment  necessary  for  the  American 
war,  the  seamen  and  marines  will  find  their  lordships  attentive  to 
the  claims  of  their  respective  services.     The  reduction  will  be 
first  made  in  the  crews  of  those  ships  which  it  may  be  found  ex- 
pedient to  pay  off,  and  from  them  the  petty  officers  and  seamen 
will  be  successively  discharged,  according  to  the  length  of  their 
services ;  beginning  in  the  first  instance  with  all  those  who  were 
in  his  majesty's  service  previous  lo  the  7th  of  March,  1803,  and 
have  since  continued  in  it.     When  the  reduction  shall  have  been 
thus  made,  as  to  the  ships  paid  off,  their  lordships  will  direct 
their  attention  to  those  which  it  may  be  found  necessary  to   keep 
in  commission,  and  as  soon  as  the  circumstances  of  the  war  will  ad- 
mit, will  bring  home  and  discharge  all  persons  having  the  same 
standing  and  periods  of  service,  as  those  before  discharged  from 
the  ships  paid  off;  so  that,  in   a  few  months  the  situation  of  indi- 
viduals will  be  equalised  ;  all  men  of  a  certain  period  of  service 
will  be  at  liberty  to  return  home  to  their  families  ;  and  the  number 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  15,9 

which  it  may  be  still  necessary  to  retain,  will  be  composed  of  those 
who  have  been  the  shortest  time  in  the  service.  An  arrangement 
in  itself  so  just  cannot,  in  their  lordship's  opinion,  fail  to  give  uni- 
versal satisfaction ;  and  they  are  induced  to  make  this  communi- 
cation to  the  fleet,  because  they  think  that  the  exemplary  good 
conduct  of  all  the  petty  officers,  seamen,  and  marines,  entitle  them 
to  every  confidence,  and  to  this  full  and  candid  explanation  of 
their  lordship's  intentions.  Their  lordships  cannot  conclude 
without  expressing  their  hope,  that  the  valour  of  his  majesty's  fleets 
and  armies  will  speedily  bring  the  American  contest  to  a  conclu- 
sion honourable  to  the  British  interests,  and  conducive  to  the  last- 
ing repose  of  the  civilised  world.  By  command  of  their  lord- 
ships. J.  W.  CHOKER." 

Thus,  then,  we  have  it  explicitly  declared,  that  there  is  to  be 
"  AN  AMERICAN  WAR."  Now,  we  shall  see  then,  whether  our 
ministers  are  to  be  talked  out  of  their  views,  whatever  those  views 
may  be.  The  grounds  of  the  war,  on  the  part  of  America,  were 
the  invasion,  as  they  insisted,  of  their  neutral  rights.  The  peace 
in  Europe,  I  should  have  thought,  put  an  end  to  the  dispute,  it  be- 
ing impossible  that  neutral  rights  should  any  longer  be  claimed. 
But  it  seems  that  I  was  deceived ;  I  must  confess  that  the  cry 
for  war  with  America  is  general  in  this  country,  now  that  we  have 
no  other  powers  to  fight  with,  and  the  resentment  of  no  one  to  fear. 
From  America  we  learn  the  most  surprising  fact,  that  a  law  has  ac- 
tually been  passed  to  prevent  the  importation  of  either  woollen  or 
cotton  goods  from  any  part  of  the  world  !  Thus  are  eight  millions 
of  people,  who  only  fourteen  years  ago  had  not  a  coat  or  a  gown 
that  was  not  carried  from  England,  able  to  supply  themselves ; 
and  must,  of  course  be,  in  a  short  time,  able  to  export  those  com- 
modities, and  at  a  much  cheaper  rate  than  we  possibly  can.  Even 
ten  years  ago,  America  did  not  grow  a  tenth  part  of  the  wool  suf- 
ficient for  making  her  woollens.  What  a  wonderful  increase  of 
means !  To  what  must  such  a  country  arrive  in  another  ten  years, 
if  left  as  she  is !  But  my  fear  is,  that  even  here  will  be  found, 
by  some  persons,  a  cause  to  make  them  wish  for  war. 


AMERICAN  WAR. 

IT  appears  from  recent  official  accounts,  that  the  Americans  are 
in  a  fair  way  of  becoming  masters  of  Upper  Canada,  in  spite  of 
all  the  skill  and  all  the  valour  which  our  little  army  has  opposed  to 
them.  But  the  military  events  of  the  war  are  trifling,  compared 
with  a  transaction  just  announced  to  us  through  the  channel  of  the 
newspapers.  We  are  told  that  the  American  general  (Dearborn) 


160  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

has  committed  to  close  custody  twenty-seven  British  subjects,  m 
order  to  retaliate  upon  them  in  the  severest  manner,  in  case  we,  on 
our  side,  should  punish  nuluraliz-d  citizens  of  America,  when 
taken  in  arms  by  us.  The  article  containing  this  intelligence,  I 
copy,  as  follows,  from  the  Courier  newspaper  of  the  31st  of  July 
last. 

"  New- York  papers  to  the  30th  ultimo  have  been  received  in 
Dublin,  and  one  of  the  Dublin  papers,  in  announcing  their  arrival, 
says,  *  Their  contents  are  extremely  important,  but  they  are  too 
voluminous  for  insertion  in  this  day's  publication.  It  appears  that 
general  Dearborn  had  carried  into  immediate  effect  the  orders  of 
the  secretary  of  war,  under  that  act  which  empowered  the  presi- 
dent to  have  recourse  to  a  system  of  retaliation,  in  case  the  natu- 
ralized citizens  of  America  should  be  subjected,  when  made 
prisoners,  to  the  laws  of  a  state  which  had  exiled  them,  OF  which 
they  had  voluntarily  abandoned  forever.  General  Dearborn  had 
committed,  in  pursuance  of  those  orders,  twenty-seven  British  sub- 
jects to  close  custody,  on  whom  it  was  provisionally  determined  to 
inflict  the  severest  retaliation !  Those  papers  likewise  contain  the 
official  account  of  the  capture  of  Fort  George.  They  also  com- 
municate some  official  intelligence  respecting  the  attack  made  on 
the  American  army,  on  the  6th  of  June,  by  General  Vincent. 
They  say  that  the  American  advanced  guard  had  been  surprised, 
and  that  after  a  severe  conflict,  during  which  their  artillery  had 
been  taken  and  re-taken  several  times,  they  retired  to  the  main 
body  at  Fort  George.'  Important,  indeed,  are  their  contents,  if 
the  orders  of  the  American  secretary  of  war  have  been  carried  into 
effect  in  the  manner  they  are  said  to  have  been.  The  American 
government  here  avow  their  determination  to  abide  no  longer  by 
the  public  law  of  nations,  and  claim  the  power  of  dissolving  the 
allegiance  which  a  subject  owes  to  the  government  of  his  native 
country.  By  the  chicane  of  naturalizing  our  countrymen,  Mr. 
Madison  converts  them  at  once  into  American  citizens,  over  whom, 
it  seems,  we  have  no  longer  any  rights,  nor  they  any  duties  to- 
wards us.  They  may  take  up  arms  against  us,  and  if  we  make 
them  prisoners  we  are  to  inflict  no  punishment  on  them!  They 
have  aimed  a  blow — they  have  attempted  the  life  of  their  mother 
country,  and  the  parricides  are  to  have  perfect  impunity !  A  more 
impudent,  monstrous,  unnatural  principle,  never  was  attempted  to 
be  set  up.  But  does  Mr.  Madison  think  we  shall  submit  to  it? 
We  said  last  Saturday,  and  repeat  it  to-day,  that  *  if  Mr.  Madisoa 
dare  to  retaliate  by  taking  away  the  life  of  one  English  prisoner, 
in  revenge  for  a  British  subject,  fully  proved  to  be  such,  being 
taken  in  the  act  of  voluntarily  bearing  arms  against  this  country, 
America  puts  herself  out  of  the  protection  of  the  law  of  nations, 
and  must  be  treated  as  an  outlaw.'  An  army  and  navy  aoiing 
against  her,  will  then  be  absolved  from  all  obligation  to  respect 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

tiie  usages  and  laws  of  war.  Hostilities  may  be  carried  on  against 
her  in  anv  mode,  until  she  is  brought  to  a  better  sense  of  her  con- 
duct, and,  by  returning  to  the  observance  of  the  laws  of  nations, 
puts  herself  again  within  their  protection.  This  is  no  lime  for  half 
measures;  and  the  question  is  not  whether  we  shall  revenge  the 
excesses  of  sudden  passion  upon  our  enemy,  but  whether  we 
shall  support  public  law  against  a  systematic  attempt  to  steal 
away  our  countrymen,  and  to  arm  them  against  us." 

This  subject  is  one  of  very  deep  interest  to  both  countries: 
and  it  ought  to  be  treated  with  the  greatest  caution  and  candour. 
Let  us,  upon  an  occasion  so  interesting  to  humanity,  endeavour  to 
banish  from  our  breasts  all  those  passions  which  are  hostile  to 
truth  and  justice.  This  is  an  endeavour,  which,  at  any  rate,  I  am 
resolved  to  make.  Holding  in  abhorrence  the  traitor  to  his  coun- 
try on  the  one  hand,  and  equally  so  every  attempt  to  overstrain 
the  severe  law  of  treason  on  the  other  hand,  I  will  not  imitate  this 
hireling  scribe,  in  using  language  calculated  to  produce  unassuage- 
able  irritation  on  both  sides,  and  eventually  the  shedding  of  much 
innocent  blood.  I  know  very  well  that  the  law  of  nations  ;  that  is 
to  say,  the  general  usage  of  nations,  and  the  principles  laid  down 
by  those  who  have  written  on  the  subject,  fully  sanction  the  opi- 
nion, that  allegiance  is  unalienable;  that  is  to  say,  that  every  man. 
continues,  to  the  day  of  his  death,  a  subject  of  the  state  wherein 
he  was  born  ;  and  that,  of  course,  any  act  of  his,  in  open  hostility, 
and  especially  of  arms-bearing  against  his  native  state,  if  it  be  a 
voluntary  act  on  his  part,  is  an  act  corning  under  the  description 
of  treason. 

This  doctrine,  generally  speaking,  is  founded  in  nature  as  well 
as  in  law ;  for  it  appears  not  more  unnatural  for  a  son  to  raise  the 
instrument  of  death  against  his  mother,  than  for  a  citizen  to  bear  a 
sword  against  the  state  wherein  he  has  first  drawn  his  breath.  I 
would,  therefore,  never  consent  to  the  recognition  of  any  right  on 
the  part  of  Englishmen  to  transfer  their  allegiance  at  pleasure  to 
any  other  state.  But  in  the  particular  and  singular  case  before 
us,  there  appear  to  me  to  be  very  powerful  reasons  for  abstaining 
from  the  enforcement  of  the  law  against  men  born  in  this  country, 
who  may  be  made  prisoners  of  war  during  this  contest  with  the 
American  states.  These  persons,  it  will  be  observed,  have  been 
naturalised  in  America,  and,  of  course,  must  have  resided  there 
many  years,  because  the  laws  of  America  do  not  permit  them  to 
be  naturalized  until  after  a  residence  of  at  least  five  years.  Fn 
the  next  place,  they  are  persons  who  have  not  had  the  premedi- 
tated act  of  treason  in  view ;  for  they  cannot  have  gone  to  America 
for  the  purpose  of  entering  into  the  American  army,  and  to  fight 
against  England.  Divers  causes  have  led  to  their  emigration 
thither.  Some  have  gone  as  a  sort  of  voluntary  exiles  ;  they  have 
banished  themselves  in  order  to  avoid  the  punishment  with  which1 

21 


162  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

the  laws  of  (his  country  menace  them  on  account  of  certain  political 
acts,  which  those  laws  denominate  crimes.  Others  have  fled 
thilher  without  being  accused  of  any  crime  here,  in  order  to  enjoy 
what  they  deemed  their  rights  as  men,  not  being  able  to  enjoy 
those  rights,  as  they  thought  them,  in  their  native  country.  But 
the  great  mass  of  emigrants  from  the  British  islands  to  the  Ame- 
rican states  have  encountered  all  the  inconveniences  of  a  change 
of  country,  as  well  as  all  the  well-known  dangers  of  the  seas,  for 
the  sole  purpose  of  making  their  lot  in  this  world  better  than  it 
was  before.  This  has  been  the  motive  of  almost  the  whole  of  the 
emigrants  from  every  country  in  Europe  to  the  American  states ; 
a  motive  wholly  foreign  from  that  of  committing  treason  or  any  act 
of  hostility  to  their  native  country. 

The  situation,  therefore,  of  all  these  emigrants,  is  very  different 
indeed  from  that  of  a  man  who,  for  the  express  purpose,  should  go 
abroad  and  take  up  arms  against  his  country.  Many  and  many 
instances  are  upon  record,  however,  of  very  famous  men  having 
done  even  this,  without  being  accounted  traitors.  A  very  memo- 
rable one  may  be  cited  in  prince  Eugene,  the  companion  of  the> 
duke  of  Marl  borough  in  his  wars  against  France.  Prince  Eugene 
was  a  subject  of  the  king  of  France,  and,  it  is  related,  too,  that  he 
entered  into  the  service  of  Austria  in  revenge  for  some  affront  or 
neglect  that  he  had  experienced  from  his  sovereign:  yet  I  have 
never  beard  that  prince  Eugene  was  considered  as  a  traitor.  It 
is  very  notorious,  that  in  all  the  European  armies  there  are  men  of 
all  the  states  upon  the  continent ;  that  the  army  of  Prussia,  in 
particular,  was  made  up  of  men  of  all  nations.  Our  army,  at  this 
time,  has  in  it  Germans,  Dutchmen,  Italians,  and  Frenchmen. 
But  do  we  consider  these  men  as  traitors  to  the  several  countries 
in  which  they  were  born  ?  Yet,  be  it  observed,  that  they  are  not 
persons  who  are  naturalized  in  England ;  and  it  is  very  well 
known  that  they  did  not  come  to  our  pountry  for  the  purpose  of 
carrying  on  trade,  or  of  cultivating  the  lands ;  but,  generally,  for  the 
purpose  of  entering  into  our  military  service,  at  the  very  time  that 
we  are  engaged  in  a  war  against  those  who  exercised  the  sove- 
reignty in  their  respective  states.  In  such  a  situation  of  things, 
it  appears  to  me  that  we,  above  all  the  nations  that  I.  know  any 
thing  of,  ought  to  be  cautious  (and  I  trust  our  government  will  be 
very  cautious)  in  rigidly  enforcing  the  law  of  treason,  on  the  ground 
of  unalienable  allegiance. 

There  is  no  way  of  judging  safer  than  that  of  making  the  case 
of  an  adversary  our  own.  Let  us  suppose,  then,  that  during  the 
war  in  the  north  of  Europe,  in  which  the  king  of  Westphalia  is  an 
ally  of  the  emperor  Napoleon ;  let  us  suppose  that  a  corps  of  the 
German  legion,  who  are  principally  Hanoverians,  and  whom,  I 
am  extremely  happy  to  hear,  have  been  shipped  off  to  be  em- 
ployed in  that  war;  let  us  suppose  that  a  corps  of  this  celebrated 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  163 

Region  were  to  be  made  prisoners  in  a  battle  against  the  king  of 
Westphalia ;  will  the  reader  say  that  the  king  of  Westphalia, 
though  now  the  sovereign  of  Hanover,  would  do  right  in  consider- 
ing these  persons  as  traitors,  and  subjecting  them  to  the  punish- 
ment which  our  laws  provide  for  traitors ;  namely*  that  of  being 
hanged  for  some  time^  cut  down  before  they  are  dead,  having 
their  heads  chopped  off,  and  their  bodies  cut  each  into  four 
quarters,  to  be  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  king  ?  Will  the  reader 
say  that  the  king  of  Westphalia  would  do  right  if  he  acted  thus 
towards  a  corps  of  the  German  legion  ?  It  will  be  said,  I  know, 
that  the  king  of  Westphalia  is  a  usurper,  and  that  the  persons  in 
the  German  legion  owe  him  no  allegiance,.  Let  us  see  a  little, 
however,  how  this  matter  stands.  The  king  of  Westphalia  does 
not  claim  the  sovereignty  of  Hanover  in  virtue  of  any  right  of 
hereditary  succession ;  but  he  claims  it  in  right  of  conquest ;  a 
right  upon  which  we  claim  the  sovereignty  over  the  thirty  millions 
of  people  who  are  said  to  inhabit  the  kingdom  of  Java. 

It  is  very  easy  for  us  to  call  Jerome,  Joachim,  and  even  Na« 
poleon  himself,  usurpers.  We  do  this  in  the  heat  of  our  animosity 
against  them  ;  but  as  we  are  here  talking  of  an  appeal  to  the  lam  of 
nations,  we  should  consider  that  that  law  makes  the  right  of  con- 
quest, as  applicable  to  the  duty  of  allegiance,  perfectly  equal  with 
the  right  of  hereditary  succession.  It  is  indeed  notorious,  that 
from  the  moment  any  portion  of  territory  is  conquered,  it  imme- 
diately becomes  subject  to  the  will  of  the  conqueror,  and  that  all 
the  people  belonging  to  it  owe  him  allegiance,  the  sovereignty 
of  the  territory  being  transferred,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  along 
with  the  territory  itself.  Upon  this  ground  it  is  that  we,  when  we 
make  a  conquest  of  any  island  or  province,  issue  proclamations, 
reminding  the  people  that  they  now  owe  allegiance  to  our  king; 
we  command  them,  in  his  name,  to  obey  all  edicts  which  our  ge- 
nerals may  choose  to  put  forth  ;  and  in  case  of  conspiring  with  the 
enemy,  or  taking  up  arms  against  us,  we  threaten  them  with  the 
punishment  due  to  traitors.  To  say  that  Jerome  is  a  usurper  in 
Hanover,  may  be  very  well  in  the  way  of  talk ;  but  when  Mr. 
Peltier  said  the  same  thing  of  Buonaparte,  Lord  Ellenborough,  on  a 
trial  of  the  former  for  a  libel  against  the  latter,  observed  to  the 
jury,  that  Buonaparte  was  the  sovereign  of  France  in  fact,  and 
that  with  the  question  of  how  he  became  so,  we  had  nothing  to  do. 
This  is  also  the  language  of  the  law  of  nations.  Cromwell,  for  in- 
stance, was  a  usurper  in  England ;  but  he  was  in  fact  at  the 
head  of  the  sovereignty  of  England ;  and  any  Englishman  found 
in  a  foreign  army,  fighting  against  an  English  army  at  that  time, 
would  doubtless  have  been  taken  to  be  a  traitor.  It  may  perhaps 
be  said,  that  though  Jerome  be  actually  in  possession  of  the  sove- 
reignty of  Hanover,  he  was  not  the  conqueror  of  it,  and  that  the 
territory  has  never  been  ceded  to  him  by  its  former  sovereign.  I' 


164  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

may  be  further  said,  that  we  have  never  made  peace  since  that 
conquest  took  place,  and  that  a  struggle  is  still  going  on  for  the- 
possession  of  that  country.  Whence  it  may  be  concluded,  per 
haps,  that  he  is  deficient  in  that  sort  of  right  of  sovereignty  which 
would  justify  him  in  considering  the  soldiers  of  the  German  legior* 
as  traitors.  But,  unfortunately  for  this  argument,  our  own  con- 
duct upon  a  recent  occasion  gives  to  it  a  complete  answer.  The 
king  of  Sweden  did  not  conquer  the  island  of  Guadaloupe.  It 
was  conquered  by  us ;  we  have  given  it  to  the  king  of  Sweden, 
while  a  war  is  yet  going  on  between  us  and  France  for  the  pos- 
session of  that  island,  amongst  other  objects.  Will  any  one  say 
that  the  people  of  Guadaloupe  do  not  owe  allegiance  to  the  king 
of  Sweden.-'  I  believe  that  no  one  will  attempt  to  say  this  ;  and 
then  I  should  be  glad  to  hear  how  any  one  will  make  out  a  clear 
and  satisfactory  distinction  between  the  case  of  the  natives  of  Gua- 
daloupe and  the  natives  of  Hanover. 

There  are  some  persons,  perhaps,  who  may  think  that  I  he  latter 
do  not  stand  in  the  same  predicament  as  the  former,  because  they 
were  out  of  Hanover  before  Jerome  was  made  sovereign  of  it.  I 
am  not  quite  certain  as  to  the  fact ;  but  if  it  were  so,  it  would  not, 
it  seems  to  me,  make  any  alteration  in  the  case  ;  for  if  a  number 
of  the  natives  of  Guadaloupe  were  to  be  found  in  arms  in  an  ex- 
pedition against  that  island,  they  would,  of  course,  be  considered 
as  traitors  against  the  Swedish  government,  though  absent  from 
the  said  island  at  the  time  of  its  conquest  by  us.  This  is,  indeed, 
an  absolutely  necessary  consequence  of  the  doctrine  of  unaliena- 
ble allegiance ;  for  how  can  allegiance  be  unalienable,  unless  it 
travels  downwards  with  the  actual  sovereignty  ;  unless  it  descends 
to  the  successors  in  the  sovereignty,  be  those  successors  whom 
they  may  ?  Allegiance  can  in  no  other  way  be  unalienable ;  for 
the  sovereign  may  die ;  his  family  may  become  extinct ;  the  laws 
may  introduce  a  new  race  of  sovereigns.  Numerous  are  (he  in- 
stances of  this  sort ;  how,  then,  can  we  pretend  that  allegiance  is 
unalienable,  unless  we  maintain  that  it  is  inseparable  from  the  ac- 
tual sovereignty  of  the  soil  ? 

These  observations,  which,  in  this  comparative  view  of  the 
matter,  might  be  carried  much  further,  are  quite  sufficient,  I  think, 
to  make  every  reasonable  man  hesitate  before  he  joins  with  the 
editor  of  the  Courier  in  asserting,  that  if  America  attempts  retalia- 
tion in  the  way  above  mentioned,  an  army  and  navy  acting  against 
her  will  be  absolved  from  all  obligations  to  respect  the  usages 
and  laws  of  war.  Such  a  man  will,  at  any  rate,  see  the  danger 
of  all  attempts  to  justify  the  hasty  shedding  of  blood  on  either 
side.  I  have  before  alluded  to  the  peculiarity  of  this  case.  Wri- 
ters upon  the  law  of  nations  have  never  had  before  their  eyes  the 
spectacle  of  a  country  serving  as  a  place  of  refuge  for  the  distress- 
ed of  all  the  other  nations  in  the  world.  If  the  states  of  America 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  165 

had  been  before  them,  there  might  have  been  found  some  modifi- 
cations in  their  doctrine  of  allegiance.  The  states  of  America 
were  colonies  of  England :  the  people  speak  the  same  language  ; 
great  numbers  of  them  are  closely  connected  by  blood.  The 
quarrel,  in  its  indigested  stat?,  appears  to  the  mind  of  the  mass  of 
people  in  both  countries  as  a  sort  of  family  quarrel.  A  mechanic, 
or  labourer,  born  in  Englaml,  and  finding  himself  in  America,  has 
entered  into  no  reflections  as  to  any  transfer  of  allegiance.  He 
takes  part  with  the  country  in  which  he  is,  with  no  thought  about 
committing  treason  any  more  than  the  inhabitants  of  the  villages 
of  Bofley  and  Bishop's  Waltbam  think  about  treason  in  their  bat- 
tles about  roads.  It  is  very  different,  indeed,  where  Englishmen 
join  Frenchmen,  or  Frenchmen  join  Englishmen,  against  their  na- 
tive countries  respectively. 

The  editor  of  the  Courier  speaks  of  British  subjects  in  the 
American  army  as  having  attempted  to  take  the  life  of  their  mo- 
ther  country,  and  calls  tjhem  "  parricides !"    He  does  not  consider 
that  the  far  greater  part  of  these  soldiers  might  have  been  mere 
children  when  they  left  this  country.      I  have  seen  hundreds  of 
children  (I  might  say  thousands)  land  in  America  with  their  emi- 
grant parents  ;  and  if  either  of  these  were  to  be  found  in  arms  in 
the  American  army,  fighting  against  us,  would  he  have  him  hanged, 
his  quivering  bowels  torn  out,  his  head  chopped  off,  and  body 
hacked  in  quarters,  for  the  offence  ?  Unjust  and  merciless  as  hire- 
ling scribes  generally  are,  I  hardly  suppose  that  the  man  will  go 
this  length.     Yet  this  length  he  must  go,  if,  in  the  present  case, 
he  justifies  our  acting  upon  the  abstract  doctrine  of  unalienable 
allegiance.      It  should   be   considered  that  our  own  laws  make 
exceptions  as  to  allegiance.     An  American  may  become  a  British 
subject  by  marrying  an  English  woman.     From  the  time  he  so 
marries,  the  law  gives  him  the  claim  to  all  the  rights  enjoyed  by 
Englishmen ;  and  the  same  law  imposes  upon  him  all  the  duties  of 
an  Englishman.     This  law,  of  which  no  gentleman  can  be  ignorant, 
has  been  not  long  ago  acted  upon  by  our  government,  as  I  under- 
stand, in  this  way  :  An  American  was  impressed  in  our  fleet ;    he 
was  claimed  by  the  agent  of  the  American  government,  as  au 
American,  and  his  discharge  demanded  accordingly.     The  answer 
was,  that  he  was  a  British  subject,  having  married  an  English 
woman ;  and  the  demand  of  his  discharge  was  refused  accordingly. 
The  law,  I  believe,  is,  in  this  respect,  the  same  in  America ;  and, 
indeed,  those  who  have  been  acquainted  with  the  American  women, 
u  ill,  I  imagine,  see  no  reason  why  this  species  of  petticoat  natural- 
ization should  not  be  going  on  there  as  well  as  here.     Indeed,  the 
law  is  the  same  in  France  as  to  this  matter  ;  upon  the  principle,  I 
suppose,  that,  as  all  good  husbands  suffer  themselves  to  be  ruled 
by  their  wives,  and  as  the  women  are,  for  the  far  greater  part,  most 
loyal  subjects,  and  most  immovably  attached  to  the  existing  order 


1 6 6  Letters  of  William  Cobbdt,  Esq. 

of  things,  be  it  what  it  may,  a  foreigner,  when  he  marries  a  native., 
may  be  fairly  looked  upon  as  having  become  bone  of  the  bone  and 
flesh  of  the  flesh  of  the  government  itself. 

Whatever  be  the  reason  of  this  amusing  exception  to  the  gene- 
ral doctrine,  it  is  very  certain  that  it  gives  a  furious  blow  to  the 
doctrine  itself;  for  here  we  see,  that  we  ourselves  contend 
that  allegiance  is,  in  this  case,  alienable;  and  how  are  our 
generals  in  Canada  to  tell  whether  the  British  subjects,  of  whom 
they  make  prisoners,  have  or  have  not  married  American  wo- 
men? So  that,  before  we  rush  on  hastily  to  the  conclusion 
which  this  impudent  scribe  would  have  us  adopt;  before  we 
give  our  assent  to  the  hanging  and  cutting  up  carcasses,  upon 
the  ground  of  the  doctrine  of  unalienable  allegiance ;  before 
we  give  our  unqualified  approbation  to  the  sentiment  that  America 
is  become  an  outlaw,  and  that  ropes  and  ripping  knives,  and  axes 
and  gibbets,  ought  to  make  part  of  our  weapons  in  a  war  against  her ; 
before  we  suffer  ourselves  to  be  thus  steeped  in  the  blood  which 
this  man  seems  so  anxious  to  see  shed,  you  see,  reader,  there  are 
good  reasons  for  us  to  hesitate  and  reflect.  This  savage  man, 
who  really  seems  to  have  dipped  his  pen  in  blood,  has,  in  all  hu- 
man probability,  never  heard  of  that  law  of  our  own,  which  sub- 
joins the  rights  and  duties  of  allegiance  to  the  act  of  marrying  a 
native  woman;  and,  perhaps,  if  he  had,  he  would  not  ijave  cared 
much  about  the  hanging  and  quartering  of  native  Americans, 
married  to  English  women,  and  taken  in  arms  in  either  service ; 
for  you  will  observe,  reader,  that  the  comfort  of  such  a  man's  situ- 
ation is,  that  he  is  a  traitor,  if  found  in  arms  on  either  side.  If  we 
catch  him  fighting  against  us,  we  hang  him  and  cut  him  up,  because 
he  is  the  king's  subject,  from  having  married  an  English  woman. 
If  the  Americans  catch  him  fighting  against  them,  they  put 
him  to  death,  (for  I  believe  they  stop  here,)  because  he  is  a 
native  of  America.  So  that,  at  this  rate,  he  who  marries  a 
foreigner  must  take  good  care  that  he  go  not  to  the  wars.  This 
hanging  and  quartering  editor  would,  to  all  appearance,  care  but 
little  about  the  fate  of  Americans  who  should  fall  in  this  way ; 
but  I  beg  leave  to  remind  him,  that  there  are  some  British  sub- 
jects who  have  had  the  indiscretion  to  marry  American  women. 
Aye,  and  what  is  more,  some  of  these  are  officers,  and  of  no  mean 
rank  and  estimation,  in  our  navy  and  army  !  At  this  moment  a 
great  number  does  not  occur  to  me ;  but  there  are  Admiral 
Knight,  Sir  Alexander  Cochrane,  and  Sir  Thomas  Hardy,  who, 
unfortunately  (according  to  this  man's  notion)  for  them,  have  mar- 
ried American  women.  To  be  sure,  one  may  rather  pity  than 
blame  them ;  for  to  go  to  America  without  a  wife,  and  come  away 
unmarried,  argues  that  a  man  is  not  made  of  flesh  and  blood.  Now 
will  the  reader  say,  that  if  either  of  these  gallant  officers,  to  whom, 
if  I  had  time  for  inquiry  and  recollection,  I  could,  I  doubt  nor. 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  167 

jjdd  a  couple  of  score ;  will  the  reader  say  that  if  either  of  them 
were  made  prisoner  by  the  Americans,  these  latter  would  have  a 
right  to  consider  him  as  a  traitor  ? 

Yet  if  this  doctrine  of  unalienable  allegiance,  as  applied  to  the 
American  soldiers,  is  to  be  received  without  any  modification, 
why  should  not  these  officers,  in  such  case,  be  considered  as 
traitors,  and  treated  as  such  ?  Again,  as  to  children,  is  there  not 
another  great  exception  to  this  law  of  unalienable  allegiance  ?  A 
son,  born  in  a  foreign  country,  of  English  parents  is  an  English 
subject.*  And  I  beg  the  reader  to  observe  that  the  rights  and  the 
duties  of  allegiance  are  inseparable.  Such  a  son,  though  born  in 
America,  according  to  this  doctrine  of  unalienable  allegiance,  is 
liable  to  be  hanged  and  cut  to  pieces  if  found  in  the  army  of  his 
native  country  fighting  against  us.  And  on  the  other  hand,  if 
found  in  our  army  fighting  against  America,  is  liable  to  be  hanged 
as  a  traitor  to  her.  How  many  hundreds,  how  many  thousands, 
how  many  hundreds  of  thousands,  of  men  and  boys  are  in  this  pre- 
cise predicament !  I  could  name  hundreds  that  I  myself  personal- 
ly know,  nay,  (and  surely  it  is  enough  to  make  me  speak  feeling- 
ly!) the  very  youth  who,  from  my  dictation,  is  putting  this  iden- 
tical article  upon  the  paper,  would,  if  he  were  made  prisoner,  in 
fighting  against  the  Americans,  be  liable  to  be  considered  a  traitor 
to  the  country  in  which  he  was  born,  and  to  expiate  his  crime  on 
the  gibbet. 

Verily,  then,  we  shall  do  weft  to  pause  and  reflect  before  we 
give  into  these  savage  and  bloody  notions,  the  offspring,  not  of 
patriotic  feelings,  not  of  zeal  for  the  honour  of  the  country ;  but 
of  low,  base,  disappointed  malice,  coupled  with  a  hatred  of  every 
human  being  that  is  in  the  pursuit  or  enjoyment  of  freedom.  I  do 
not  know  what  is  the  real  state  of  the  facts ;  I  do  not  know  what 
number  of  naturalized  American  ci'.izens,  natives  of  this  country, 

*  There  is  &  curious  distinction  made  by  Olr  law  with  regard  to  the  children, 
born  abroad,  the  parents  being  subjects  of  the  king.  It  relates  to  the  capability  of 
holding  places  of  profit  or  trust,  or  of  pensions  under  the  crown.  If  the  parents  be 
either  Scotch  or  Irish  ;  or  if  either  father  or  mother  le  Scotch  or  Irish) ,  none  of 
their  children  can  ever,  according  to  law,  hold  aiy  such  place  or  pension  ;  but  if  the 
parents  be  English,  then  the  children  may  holl  such  px»ces  ;>r  pensions.  I  have 
often  thought  of  availing  myself  of  this- law,  and  of  going  y\d  routing  out  of  their 
places  and  pensions  all  the  Scotch  and  Irish  coming  under  tf^g  description,  of  which 
I  will  engage  there  are  many  scores.  The  truth  is,  however,  ^.hat  there  are  foreign- 
ers, real  aliens,  who  enjoy  such  situations,  and  while  this  is  \he  case,  it  •would  be 
hard  to  drive  out  the  children  of  Scotch  and  Irish  parents,  tfnugli  they  happen  to 
have  been  born  out  of  the  realm.  It  would  be  curious  to  know  why  this  dictiuction 
was  made  by  the  law ;  and  I  should  not  be  at  all  surprised  if  it  \va?  ifte  work  i*'  some 
person  in  power  at  the  time,  who  happened  to  have  relations  so  situated  a."  to  be 
likely  to  derive  benefit  from  it.  However,  such  is  the  law.  That  I  know  very 
well;  and  I  do  not  promise  that  I  will  not  one  of  these  days,  M  hen  1  get  &  littie  lei- 
sure, after  the  harvest  is  al!  in,  go  and  thrust  out  these  illegal  intruders,  of  *hich  I 
^iave  not  the  least  doubt  that  I  shall  find  a  prettv  swarm ;  for  I  have  observed  that 
hese  gentlemen  of  equivocal  allegiance  are  verv  remarkable  for  their  enterprising 
•pint,  where  there  is  any  chance  of  getting  at  the  public  money. 


168  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

we  may  have  taken  in  arms ;  nor  do  I  know  that  our  generals  have 
expressed  an  intention  of  considering  them  as  traitors ;  but  if  they 
have  taken  any  such  persons,  and  have  expressed  any  such  in- 
tention, the  arguments  which  I  have  offered,  are,  I  think,  quite 
sufficient  to  induce  our  ministers  to  make  these  generals  hold  their 
hand,  I  by  no  means  approve  of  that  loose  way  of  thinking,  with 
regard  to  the  duties  of  a  subject  or  a  citizen,  which  would  dissolve 
all  the  ties  of  allegiance,  and  justify  men,  at  their  mere  will  and 
pleasure,  to  join  the  enemies  of  their  country,  and  make  war 
against  her ;  I  approve  of  no  such  wild  notions,  which  must,  in 
the  end,  lead  to  the  most  miserable  of  consequences,  eradicating 
from  the  mind  of  man  every  sentiment  connected  with  the  love  of 
country  ;  but  in  this  particular  case,  this  case  of  which  the  his- 
tory of  the  world  presents  us  no  precedent,  and  under  all  the  cir- 
cumstances, some  of  which  I  have  mentioned  above,  of  the  organ- 
ization of  our  own  arnay,  I  am  decidedly  of  opinion,  that  to  attempt 
to  act  towards  persons  taken  in  the  American  army  rigidly  upon 
the  doctrine  of  unalienable  allegiance,  would  be  a  step  of  which 
we  should  in  a  short  time  most  sorely  repent. 

All  the  world  must  see,  at  the  first  blush  of  the  question,  that 
the  Englishmen  taken  in  the  American  army  stand  upon  a  very 
different  footing  from  Englishmen  t*ho  should  be  taken  in  a  French 
army.  It  is  not  a  question  that  waits  for  reasoning — it  is  one  that 
rushes  at  once  to  the  heart — whica  tells  every  man  that  these  per- 
sons, though  we  may  lament  that  /hey  are  there,  are  not  deliberate 
traitors.  The  far  greater  part  of  them  must,  according  to  all  pro- 
bability, be  of  nearly  the  same  Jescription,  as  to  education  and 
situation  in  life,  and  also  as  to  degree  of  information,  as  the  sol- 
diers of  our  army ;  and  I  put  it  to  the  reader's  candour  to  say, 
whether,  if  any  of  the  men  (t  mean  the  common  soldiers)  who 
have  so  gallantly  fought  for  their  country  in  Spain,  had  been  in 
America,  they  would  have  thought  it  treason  to  enter  the  Ame- 
rican service,  especially  after  jesiding  many  years  in  that  country ; 
having  formed  entirely  cew  connexions,  and  perhaps  hardly  recol- 
lecting the  place  they  were  Aorn,  in  England,  Ireland,  or  Scot- 
land ?  To  apply  the  maxims  of  the  law  of  treason,  grounded  on 
the  doctrines  of  umlienable  allegiance,  to  men  so  circumstanced, 
is,  I  am  very  sure,  to  stretch  it  farther  than  the  common  sense  of 
mankind  will  approve  of;  and,  therefore,  I  cannot  refrain  from 
again  expressing  an  anxious  wish,  that  our  ministers  will  interpose 
their  authority  to  put  a  stop  to  any  further  prosecution  of  any 
such  attempt. 

It  is  not  impossible,  though  I  do  not  think  it  very  likely,  that 
some  few  of  those  persons  who  have  gone  from  this  country,  or 
who  may  be  said  to  have  fled  from  this  country  on  account  of  their 
political  opinions,  may  have  been  found  in  arras  against  their  na- 
tive country.  On  their  part,  there  would  be  no  excuse  on  the 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  1(19 

score  of  want  of  information,  but  surely,  after  being  so  frequently 
told  by  the  hirelings  of  ihe  day  that  it  would  be  a  good  thing  if 
they  were  to  leave  England — after  hearing  for  many  years  among 
the  loyal  elect,  the  toast  of  '  Old  England— and  those  who  do 
not  like  the  country  Id  them  leave  it  ;'*  after  hearing  a  member  of 
parliament,  in  his  place,  exclaim,  "  Those  who  do  not  like  the 
country,  damn   them,  let  them  leave  it" — after  having  so  long 
heard  themselves  thus  abused,  and  thus  bidden  to  go  out  of  the 
country,  surely  even  these  men  must  be  very  much  surprised,  at 
least,  to  find  themselves  accused  of  a  failure  in  their  duties  of  al- 
legiance. There  appears  to  me,  too,  to  be  a  good  deal  of  impolicy 
in  making  all  this  fuss  about  traitors  found  in  the  American  a ''my 
or  navy.     If  the  facts  have  been  true  to  the  extent  in  which  they 
have  been  stated  in  the  newspapers,  and  which  I  do  not  believe, 
it  seems  that  there  was  no  great  wisdom  discovered  in  the  divulging 
of  them.     I  think  that  if  I  were  a  minister  I  should  do   every 
thing  in  my  power  to  keep  such   facts  from    being  promulgated ; 
for,  after  all,  what  can  possibly  be  gained  by  it  ?     If  twenty  or 
thirty  of  the  men  thus  taken  were  put  to  death,  and  if  no  retalia- 
tion were  to  take  place,  (as  I  hope  it  would  not,)  what  should   we 
gain  ?  We  might  prevent  some  few  British-born  subjects  from  en- 
tering the  American  service,  but  America  has  quite  men  enough 
without  them  ;  men,  too,  upon  whom  she  can  as  safely  rely.    And 
we  should  only  blazon  through  the  whole  world  the  melancholy 
fact  that,  for  some  reason  or  other,  there  were  Englishmen  ready 
to  take  up  arms  against  their  country,  and  in  that  case,  not  only 
to  encounter  all  the  dangers  inseparable  from  war,  but  in  addition 
thereto,  the  risk  of  being  hanged,  ripped  up,  and  chopped  to 
pieces !    And  would   this  be  a  desirable*  thing  ?    Would  it  be  to 
our  honour  to  cause  this  fact  to  be  known  in  every  town,  in  every 
village,  in  every  house,  in  every  hovel  throughout  the  civilized 
world  ?     Say,  for  mere  argument's  sake,  that  this  terrible  act 
would  be  consonant  with  strict  justice— say,  for  argument's  sake, 
that  all  the  reasons  which  I  have  urged  against  it,  and  which,  in 
abler  hands,  might  have  been  urged  with  much  greater  force  and 
effect — say  that  all  these  reasons  are  totally  devoid  of  weight, 
still,  tell  me  where  is  the  policy  of  thus  astounding  the  world  into 
the  knowledge  of  a  circumstance  so  little  calculated  to  impress 
mankind  with  a  favourable  opinion  of  our  character  ?     If  it  be 
urged  that  the  evil  is  of  such  a  magnitude  as  to  call  for  the  contem- 
plated act,  even  at  the  risk  of  national   character,   to  what  a  la- 
mentable state  must  we  have  arrived  !    But  [  contend  that,  be  the 
magnitude  of  the  evil  what  it  may,  it  is  impolitic  to  adopt  the 
measure  to  which  the  ministers  are  encouraged  by  this  malignant 
and  savage  writer  ;  for  it  is  easy  to  perceive,  I  think,  that  such  a 
measure  must  give  rise  to  a  conviction  in  the  mind  of  every  British 

22 


1  <  0  Letters  vf  William  Cobbell,  Esq. 

subject  in  America,  that  the  only  way  (o  ensure  his  safety  against 
the  claims  of  England,  is  to  effect  the  total  destruction  of  that 
power  by  which  alone  those  claims  can  possibly  be  enforced. 


AMERICAN  WAR. 

We  have  now  the  Gazette  account  of  the  battle  of  Chippeftu, 
And  also  (he  American  account  of  that  memorable  and  important 
contest.    I  guessed  our  force  at  about  three  or  four  thousand  men; 
and  it  appears  now  that  it  did  not  amount  to  three  thousand,  out  of 
which  we  lost  in  killed,  wounded,  missing,  and  prisoners,  878! 
The  Americans  say  that  their  force  was  inferior  to  ours.     They 
stale  that  they  have  eighteen  of  our  officers  prisoners  ;  and  their 
account  agrees  with  ours  as  to  the  numbers  that  they  took  in  the 
battle.     Our   Gazette  says  that  we  took  '  several  hundreds  of 
prisoners."     Bat  why  have  we  no  detail  ?  why  no  detailed  list  of 
what  we  have  captured?  Surely,  several  hundreds  are  soon  count- 
ed.    A  thousand  sheep,   spread  over  a  field,  are  counted  in  tea 
minute*.     These  omissions  look  suspicious.     It  is  certain,   how- 
ever, that  the  Americans  did  retreat  with  the  prisoners  they  had 
made,  and  that  they  had  to  contend  with  a  most  gallant  enemy. 
Numerous  as  were  the  battles  of  Napoleon,  and  brave  as  were  his 
soldiers,  I  do  not  believe  that  even  he,  the  greatest  warrior  that 
ever  lived,  can  produce  from  his  wars  an  instance  of  a  contest  so 
well  maintained,   or,  in  proportion  to  the  numbers   engaged,  so 
bloody,  as  this  of  Chipperva.     Our  own  account  tells  us  that  our 
first  in  command  was  severely  wounded)  our  second  in  command 
severely  wounded,  and  taken  prisoner  ;  and  when  we  come  to  see 
the  American  account,  we  find  that  their/irsf  and  second  in  com- 
mand were  both  so  severely  wounded,  that  neither   was  able  to 
write  or  to  dictate  a  despatch  to  the  government,  several  days 
after  the  battle.     Yet  we  (ind  that  this  little  band  of  raw  troops, 
(as  the  Americans  must  be,)  though  really  left  without  heads  to 
direct  them,  took  off  the  cannon  and  the  prisoners  that  they  had 
captured  during  the  engagement.     It  appears  from  general  Driita- 
mond's  account,  that  the  cannon  of  the  two  armies  were  run  up 
to  each  others'  muzzles  ;  that  the  fight  was  so  very  close,  and  the 
confusion  so  great,  that  the  Americans,  in  one  instance,  put  their 
horses  into  the  limbers  (or  shafts)  of  our  cannon,  instead  of  the 
shafts  of  their  own  ;  and  that  the  Americans  cut  down  our  artil- 
lerymen from  the  very  sides,of  our  guns. 

The  Morning  Chronicle  expresses  its  great  satisfaction,  thai 
the  expedition  has,  at  last,  sailed  from  Portsmouth  to  America. 
A  few  more  battles  like  that  of  Chippewa  would  cause  this  organ 
of  the  whigs  to  change  its  tone,  As  I  said  before,  it  does  appeav 


Letters  of  William  O'obbclt,  Esq.  I  Tt 

tliat  the  Americans,  after  (he  battle,  retired  some  miles;  and  so 
does  an  army  very  often,  when  it  has  been  successful.  How 
many  victories^  good  God!  did  we  win  hi  Portugal  and  Spain 
without  stopping  an  hour  on  the  field  of  battle,  but  retreating  from 
it  with  all  possible  speed  ?  Did  we  not  win  a  most  glorious  victory 
at  Corunna;  and  did  we  not  instantly  embark,  in  the  utmost  con- 
fueion,  leaving  the  town  to  the  beaten  enemy  ?  Did  we  not  win  a 
still  more  glorious  victory  at  Taiavera,  which  earned  the  winner  a 
title  ;  and  yet,  did  we  not  leave  even  our  own  wounded  to  the 
humanity  of  Napoleon's  gallant  army  ?  Now  the  Americans,  though 
they  retired,  they  retired  with  our  second  in  command,  and  a 
great  many  other  prisoners.  Why,  therefore,  may  they  not,  iu 
fact,  have  been  the  victors,  if  we  were  the  victors  at  Corunna 
and  Talavera?  But  it  is  of  little  consequence  who  really  gained 
the  victory.  The  important  fact  is,  that  we  have  now  got  an 
enemy  who  fights  as  bravely  as  ourselves.  For  some  time  the 
Americans  cut  no  figure  on  land.  They  now  have  proved  to  us, 
that  they  only  wanted  time  to  acquire  a  little  discipline.  They 
have  now  proved  to  us  what  they  are  made  of;  that  they  are  the 
same  sort  of  men  as  those  who  captured  whole  armies  under  Bur- 
goyne  and  Cornwallis  ;  that  they  are  neither  to  be  frightened  nor 
seduced  ;  and  that,  if  we  should  beat  them  at  last,  we  cannot 
expect  to  do  it  without  expending  three  or  four  hundred  millions 
of  money,  keeping  up  all  our  present  taxes,  and  adding  to  their 
amount,  or  imposing  new  taxes.  These  are  the  facts  that  are  now 
proved  to  us  ;  these  are  the  natural  consequences  of  battles  such 
as  that  of  Chippewa. 

It  has  been  stated  in  the  newspapers^  that  admiral  Cochrane 
has  taken  BALTIMORE,  the  capital  of  Maryland  ;  that  Stonington 
has  been  demolished;  that  we  are  about  to  attack  New  London  ; 
and,  therefore,  says  the  writer,  Jonathan  must  look  sharp  about 
him.  Baltimore  is  hardly  taken,  and  will,  I  dare  say,  never  be 
taken,  without  a  most  bloody  contest.  But  supposing  it  to  be  so  ; 
for  our  ships  of  great  size  can  go  quite  up  to  the  city,  unless  pre- 
vented by  batteries  on  shore ;  suppose  the  fact  to  be  true,  how 
are  we  to  maintain  that  position  ?  And  if  we  could  maintain  it  for 
a  year,  how  much  nearer  are  we  to  our  object  ?  Baltimore  is  ex- 
posed to  our  attack,  from  its  vicinity  to  the  sea,  and  from  the  im- 
mense river  that  opens  the  way  to  us  to  reach  it.  But  what  is  that 
place,  or  even  all  the  state  of  Maryland,  when  we  are  talking  of 
this  great  republic,  inhabited  by  free  men  resolved  to  defend  their 
country  ?  From  the  first,  it  was  allowed  by  me  that  we  should 
do  immense  mischief;  that  we  might  burn  many  villages,  towns, 
and  cities,  destroy  mills  and  manufactories,  and  lay  waste  lands 
upon  the  coast,  to  the  great  loss  and  distress  of  numerous  indivi- 
duals. But  at  the  same  time  I  anticipated,  that  these  acts  would 
on\y  tend  to  unite  the  Americans,  and,  in  the  end,  produce  such 


17-2  Lexers  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

a  hatred  against  us,  as  would  not  only  render  final  success  impos* 
sible,  hut  as  would  tend  to  shut  us  out  from  all  future  connexion 
and  intercourse  with  that  great  and  fertile  region.  There  seemed 
to  be  wanting  just  such  a  war  as  this  to  complete  the  separation  of 
England  from  America  ;  and  to  make  the  latter  feel  that  she  had 
n;  -afety  against  the  former,  but  in  the  arms  of  her  free  citizens. 
We  were  told,  as  the  reader  will  recollect,  that  the  eastern  states 
Would,  in  case  of  war,  separate  themselves  from  the  rest  of  the 
union,  and  join  themselves  to  us.  But  it  now  appears  that  our 
first  grand  stroke  of  deslruction  was  given  in  these  our  favourite 
stales.  Stonington,we  are  told,  is  demolished;  and  New-London 
is,  we  are  told,  about  to  share  the  same  fate.  These  places  lie  in 
our  favourite  state  of  Connecticut,  in  the  midst  of  the  eastern 
states,  who  were  to  join  us  against  their  own  republican  govern- 
ment !  This  fact  is,  of  itself,  sufficient  to  overset  all  the  stories 
about  a  separation  of  these  states.  These  states  now  see  what 
they  have  to  expect  at  our  hands;  and,  indeed,  they  did  not 
want  to  see  their  towns  destroyed,  in  order  to  be  convinced  that 
their  safety  lay  in  their  firm  obedience  to  the  union,  and  in  the 
resolution  to  stand  by  their  own  government.  It  is,  I  suppose, 
intended  to  batter  them  into  a  separation  ;  but  who  is  fool  enough 
to  believe  that  such  a  mode  will  succeed  with  such  a  people  ? 
The  demolition  of  Stonington  will,  in  all  probability,  render  the 
name  of  England  so  hateful  in  our  favourite  states,  that  no  man 
will  dare  to  raise  his  breath  in  defence  of  her  conduct.  If  we  had 
confined  our  land  war  to  Canada,  it  is  possible  that  Mr.  Madison 
might  have  found  it  very  difficult  to  make  the  people  see  how 
they  were  interested  in  the  contest ;  but  the  moment  we  showed 
our  design  of  carrying  fire  and  sword  along  the  whole  coast  of  the 
United  States,  that  moment  we  bound  the  whole  of  the  people  up 
like  the  bundle  of  slicks  described  in  the  fable  ;  especially  as  the 
manifestation  of  this  design  was  accompanied,  on  the  part  of  al- 
most the  whole  of  our  public  prints,  with  the  open  declaration 
that  it  was  necessary,  now  that  we  had  the  opportunity  to  subju- 
gate America,  to  counter-revolutionize  her,  to  destroy  her  go- 
vernment, to  reduce  her  to  her  former  state  of  dependence  on  us. 
It  is  of  great  importance  that  we  bear  in  mind,  not  only  these  de- 
clarations, but  also  the  time  when  they  began  to  be  made. 

While  the  duration  of  the  power  of  Napoleon  was  not  doubted  ; 
as  long  as  there  appeared  to  be  no  prospect  of  seeing  him  put 
down,  a  sort  of  ambiguous  language  was  held  as  to  1'he  object  of 
the  war  with  America.  Mr.  Madison  was  accused  wi(h  being  a 
friend  to  Napoleon ;  he  and  his  countrymen  were  abused;  but 
nothing  was  distinctly  said  as  to  the  object  of  the  war.  As  the 
affairs  of  Napoleon  grew  gloomy,  our  prints,  from  time  to  time, 
grew  high  in  their  language  as  to  (he  object  of  the  American  con- 
test; and  when  Napoleon  was  actually  put  down,  they  threw  ofi' 


Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

all  reserve,  and  in  (he  most  distinct  terms,  with  an  air  of  official 
authority,  they  informed  us  that  we  were  not  to  lay  down  our  arms 
till  we  had  effected  in  America  what  had  been  effected  in  France. 
The  government,  we  are  told,  was  to  be  done  away.  Mr.  Madi- 
son was  to  be  deposed,  as  Napoleon  had  been.  Our  army,  then 
in  France,  were  to  do  in  America  what  they  had  just  done  in. 
France;  that  is  to  say,  they  were  "to  deliver  the  Americans 
from  an  oppressive  usurpation,  and  restore  them  to  their  former 
happy  connexion  with  a  paternal  government."  These  declara- 
tions were,  at  the  period  I  allude,  daily  made  in  the  Times  and 
the  Courier.  Nay,  it  is  only  a  few  days  ago  that  the  Times  news- 
paper, in  expressing  its  regret  that  the  sovereign  prince  of  the 
Netherlands  had  sent  an  ambassador  to  America,  observed,  that 
if  he  had  stopped  for  a  few  months,  he  might  have  been  spared  the 
disgrace  of  sending  an  ambassador  to  such  people  as  James  Madi- 
son and  his  party.  Let  it  further  be  borne  in  mind,  that  soon  af- 
ter the  deposing  of  Napoleon,  there  having  been  a  debate  in  the 
house  of  commons  relative  to  the  reduction  of  the  navy,  there  was 
published  in  the  newspapers  of  the  next  day,  a  paragraph,  pur- 
porting to  be  the  report  of  a  speech  of  Sir  Joseph  Yorke,  one  of 
the  lords  of  the  admiralty,  in  which  paragraph  it  was  stated,  that 
though  Napoleon  was  deposed,  we  could  not  yet  disarm  to  any 
great  extent,  seeing  that  there  was  Mr.  Madison  yd  to  depose. 
The  newspapers  have  ever  since  held  the  same  language.  They 
have,  since  the  deposition  of  Napoleon,  wholly  left  out  of  sight  the 
original  ground  of  the  war.  Nay,  they  pretend  to  have  no  ground 
at  all;  but  insist  (hat,  as  we  now  have  the  opportunity ;  as  we 
have  a  fleet  afloat,  and  a  disciplined  army  that  we  know  not  what 
to  do  with,  we  ought,  while  the  occasion  offers,  to  re-conquer  Ame- 
rica, or,  at  least,  to  despoil  her  in  such  a  way  that  she  shall  never 
again  be  able  to  show  her  nose  upon  the  sea.  They  have  pub- 
lished a  list  of  the  American  navy;  and  have  observed  upon  it, 
that  if  America  be  not  now  cut  up ;  if  she  be  not  MOW,  while  France, 
Spain,  and  Holland  are  unable  to  assist  her ;  if  she  be  not  now 
crippled  past  recovery  ;  if  she  be  now  suffered  to  have  peace  ;  if, 
in  short,  she  be  not  now  destroyed,  it  is  fearful  to  think  of  the  de- 
gree of  naval  power  at  which  she  may  arrive  in  the  course  of  ten 
or  a  dozen  years  of  uninterrupted  prosperity,  having  had  a  proof 
of  what  her  seamen  are  capable  of  performing.  That  I  have  here 
not  overcharged,  not,  in  the  smallest  degree,  misrepresented  the 
language  of  these  prints,  every  reader  will  allow  ;  and,  indeed,  I 
must  confess  they  spoke  very  nearly  the  languageof  the  whole  nation. 
How  the  people  of  America,  from  whom  nothing  can  be  kept  se- 
cret, have  received  this  language,  I  know  not ;  but  if  I  were  to 
judge  of  their  feelings  by  what  I  know  to  be  their  character,  I 
should  suppose  that  it  must  have  filled  them  with  indignation,  if, 
indeed,  that  feeling  did  not  give  vray  to  that  of  contempt.  They 


j  74  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

must,  however,  have  seen  the  absolute  necessity  of  union  and  of 
exertion,  unless  they  were  disposed  to  become  again  dependent 
upon  England ;  unless,  in  short,  (hey  were  disposed  to  become 
again  royal  provinces,  governed  by  the  sons  of  the  nobility"  of 
England.  The  time  chosen  by  our  prints  for  the  making  of  (hose 
undisguised  declarations  was  very  suspicious.  It  was  (lie  moment 
when  France,  Spain,  and  Holland,  were  put  into  a  state  which  ren- 
dered it  impossible  for  (hem  to  assist  America.  It  was  (he  mo- 
ment when  we  were  freed  from  all  enemies  ;  when  all  (he  maritime 
force  of  Europe  was  in  our  hands.  It  was,  in  short,  ihe first  seem- 
ingly fair  opportunity  for  subjugating  America  that  had  been  offer- 
ed us  since  Ike  conclusion  oftlie  American  war;  and  this  oppor- 
tunity the  language  of  these  prints  must  have  led  the  Americans 
to  believe  was  about  to  be  taken  for  the  purpose  of  executing  the 
project.  In  the  year  1794,  or  5,  a  Mr.  Rutledge,  who  was  a 
judge  in  South  Carolina,  made  a  speech,  in  which  he  besought 
his  country  to  join  itself  with  the  republic  of  France  in  a  mortal 
war  against  England.  "  She  will,"  said  he,  "  never  forgive  us  for 
our  success  against  her,  and  for  our  having  established  a  free  con- 
stitution. Let  us,  therefore,  while  she  is  down,  seize  her  by  the 
throat,  strangle  her,  deliver  the  world  of  her  tyranny,  and  thus 
confer  on  mankind  the  greatest  of  blessings."  As  nearly  as  I  can 
recollect  them,  these  were  his  very  words.  I  am  sure  that  I  have 
the  ideas  correct.  I  and  many  more  cried  aloud  against  the  bar- 
barity of  such  sentiments.  They  were  condemned  in  speeches 
and  pamphlets  innumerable.  But  have  we  not  reason  to  fear 
(hat  the  present  language  of  our  newspapers  may  make  the  Ame- 
ricans think  that  Mr.  Rtitledge  was  in  the  right;  and  make  them 
i«gret  thrtt  they  did  not  join  the  republic  of  France  in  the  war?  If 
they  had  taken  (ha(  step  in  (he  year  1795,  (he  republic  of  France 
might  stiil  have  been  in  existence,  and  the  situation  of  all  Europe 
very  different  indeed  from  what  it  now  is.  The  English  party, 
the  love  of  peace,  and  the  profits  of  peace,  were  loo  powerful  in 
the  United  States  for  (hose  who  thought  with  Mr.  Rutledge. 
Much  was  said  about  principles  ;  but  it  was  (he  love  of  (he  pro- 
fits  of  peace  which  prevailed  over  every  other  consideration. 
The  Americans  have  now  seen  enough  to  convince  them,  that  it 
would  have  been  their  soundest  policy  to  have  taken  one  side  or 
the  oilier,  long  ago.  What  they  wished  for  was,  peace  and  com- 
merce with  ail  the  world  ;  but  they  have  now  found,  that  to  enjoy 
some  peace,  they  must  be  prepared  to  have  some  war  ;  and  that 
to  enjoy  independence  and  freedom,  they  must  make  themselves 
respected  in  arms.  If  (he  war  should  end  without  our  doing 
something  approaching  very  nearly  to  the  subjugation  of  Ameri- 
ca, it  will  prove  a  most  calamitous  war  to  us.  Because  it  wiil 
h  ive  added  immensely  to  our  debt ;  it  will  have  left  us  horribly- 
exhausted  ;  it  will  have  given  France  a  time  of  peace  and  econo- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  175 

my  wherein  to  recover  her  wonted  means  of  meeting  «s  by  land 
or  by  sea ;  it  will  have  made  the  Americans  both  a  military  and  a 
naval  nation  ;  it  will  have  given  to  these  two  nations  the  most  pow- 
erful motives  to  a  close  connexion,  dictated  by  their  mutual  wants 
and  safety  ;  it  will  have  rendered  America  not  only   completely 
independent  of  us  as  to  manufactures,  but  will  have  implanted  in 
the  bosoms  of  her  people  a  hatred  against  us  never  to  be  removed 
or  mollified.     If,  indeed,  we  were  to  subjugate  America,  to  make 
the  states  again  our  colonies ;  or  were,  at  least,  to  destroy  all  her 
ships  of  war;  raze  all  her  fortifications;  stipulate  with  her  never 
again  to  make  a  cannon,  a  ball,  or  a  pound  of  powder  ;  to  place  in 
our  hands,  as  guarantees,  all  her   principal  seaports,  and  all  the 
inouths  of  her  rivers ;  and  to  abstain  from  every  sort  of  manufac- 
ture in  the  country.      If  we  were  to  accomplish  either  of  these, 
we  might  have   little  to  apprehend  as  the  consequence  of  a  five 
or  six  years  war  against  America.     But  if  we  accomplish  neither, 
how  will  the  case  stand?    Why,  thus:    she  will,   single  handed, 
have  carried  on  a  war  against  us.     She  will  have,  through  the 
world,  the  reputation  of  having  been  able,  alone,  to  beat  England ; 
for  to  defend   herself  against  us  is,  in  such  a  case,  to  beat  us. 
Other  nations,  sore  at  the  sight  of  our  predominance  on  the  sea, 
will  look  up  to  America  as  to  a  balance  against  us.      They  will 
naturally  seek  a  connexion  with  a  country  offering  innumerable 
sources   of  beneficial  intercourse.      She  whose  products  are  so 
abundant,  and  so  much  in  request  all  over  the  world,  and  who 
holds  out  such  great  advantages  to  every  man  of  enterprise,  will 
have  all  the  world,  England  excepted,  for  her  friends.     No  nation 
will  envy  or  hate  her  but  England ;  because,  to  every  other  na- 
tion, the  increase  of  her  population,  her  produce,  her  commerce, 
and  her  naval  power,  must  be  advantageous.     She  may,  and  she 
doubtless  will,  suffer  much  in  this  war.     Many  of  her  towns  will 
be  knocked  down  ;  thousands  of  her  people  will  be  greatly  injured. 
But  if  she  keep  on  launching  ships  of  war,  as  she  is  doing  at  pre- 
sent, she  may  have  a  score  of  ships  of  the  line  and  forty  frigates 
at  the  end  of  a  six  years  war,  manned  with  such  officers  and  sai- 
lors as  those  whom  we  have  already  seen  afloat,  and  to  whom  we 
have  had  the  inexpressible  mortification  to  see  so  many  English 
ships   strike  their  flags,  after  contests  the  most   desperate    arid 
bloody.      If  this  were  to  be  the  effect  of  this   war  of  drubbing, 
how  should  we  have  to  curse  those  malicious  writers,  who,  for  so 
many  montlis,  have  been  labouring  to  cause  this  nation  to  believe 
that  it  will  only  be  a  holiday  undertaking  to  drub,  to  humble,  and 
to  subdue  the  American  nation  !     I  am  aware,  that  there  is  a  de- 
scription of  men  in  this  country  who  say  that,  even  with  all  these 
possible,  and  even  probable,  evils  before  us,  we  ought  to  have  un- 
dertaken, and  ought  now  to  proceed  with,  the  war.     "Because," 
say  these  men,  "  even  iC  these  evils  should  come  nitk  the  war, 


1 76  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

they  would  all,  or,  at  least  the  worst  of  them,  come  without  it« 
Not  to  have  undertaken  the  war,  or  to  put  a  stop  to  it  now,  would 
have  been,  and  would  now  be,  to  leave  the  Americans  in  posses- 
sion of  the  naval  reputation  they  have  acquired,  in  possession  of 
all  the  means  of  augmenting  their  naval  force,  arid,  what  is  of  still 
more  consequence,  in  the  enjoyment  of  real  freedom,  and  of  hap- 
piness unparalleled  under  a  republican  government,  at  once  an  ex- 
ample and  an  asylum  to  all  the  disloyal  of  every  country  in 
Europe.  Leaving  her  thus,  she  must,  in  the  present  state  of 
men's  minds,  prove  the  destruction  of  all  kingly  government,  and 
of  every  hierarchy  in  the  world.  Therefore,  even  failure  in  the 
war  is  no  objection  to  persevering  in  it,  seeing  that  the  worst  that 
can  arise  out  of  the  war  must  arise  out  of  suffering  this  republic 
to  enjoy  peace,  especially  with  the  reputation  that  she  has  acquir- 
ed on  that  element,  the  absolute  dominion  of  which  we  have  so 
long  claimed.  When  there  is  at  least  a  possibility  of  destroying 
this  republic  by  war,  and  no  possibility  of  avoiding  destruction 
from  her  without  war,  reason  says,  go  on  with  the  war  /" 

I  know  that  then,  are  many  that  argue  thus,  because  I  have 
heard  them  argue  thus.  And  I  must  confess  that,  if  I  could  bring 
myself  to  their  feelings  as  to  the  consequences  which  they  dread, 
I  should  be  bound  to  say  that  their  arguments  were  unanswerable. 
As  the  matter  stands,  I  could,  I  think,  give  a  satisfactory  answer; 
hut  as  every  one  likes  to  have  something  left  to  be  supplied  by 
himself,  I  leave  the  reader  to  give  to  these  arguments  such  an  answer 
as,  after  some  minutes  of  sober  reflection,  his  mind  may  suggest. 

Before  I  conclude,  however,  I  must  repeat  what  I  have  before 
said,  as  to  the  dilemma  in  which  we  are  placed.  It  is  very  certain 
that  America,  at  peace,  in  the  enjoyment  of  such  perfect  freedom, 
and  such  great  superiority,  under  a  republican  government,  the 
very  head  of  which  does  not  receive  above  five  thousand  pounds 
a  year,  and  having  no  established  church,  and  no  use  for  the  hang- 
man, it  is  certain  that  America,  presenting  this  picture  to  the 
world,  might  and  would  keep  alive  the  spirit  of  jacobinism  in 
Europe;  and  that  spirit  might,  in  a  few  years,  produce  very  se- 
rious consequences.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  to  prevent  her  from 
presenting  this  dangerous  picture  to  the  world,  we  must  keep  up 
all  our  present  taxes,  and,  perhaps,  continue  to  make  loans. 
This  is  the  dilemma — the  grand  dilemma,  in  which  we  are  at  pre- 
sent placed,  and  out  of  which,  I  must  confess,  I  do  not  see  how 
we  are  to  get,  unless  we  were,  as  the  Times  supposes  we  shall,  to 
finish  this  insolent  republic  in  the  space  of  "  a  few  months." 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  177 


AMERICAN  WAR. 

THE  expedition  against  the  city  of  Washington)  or,  rather,  the 
result  of  it,  has  produced,  in  this  country,  the  effect  which  might 
naturally  have  been  expected :  "  The  Yankees  are  done  for ! 
Their  metropolis  has  been  taken  !  They  ran  away  at  the  sight  of 
our  troops!  Mr.  Madison  and  his  government  have  decamped! 
The  states  are  left  without  rulers  !  The  '  ill-organized  association/ 
says  the  Times  newspaper, { is  on  the  eve  of  dissolution ;'  and  the 
world  is  speedily  to  be  delivered  of  the  mischievous  example  of 
the  existence  of  a  government  founded  on  democratic  rebellion." 
Thus  says  the  Times,  and  thus  says  a  vast  majority  of  this  taxed 
nation.  This  was  to  be  expected.  The  name  of  metropolis  was 
enough.  The  people  here  were  sure  to  look  upon  it  as  the  London 
of  America  ;  and,  of  course,  to  conclude  that  America  was  sub- 
dued, or  very  nearly  subdued.  This  is,  too,  the  notion  held  forth 
by  the  newspapers;  and,  in  fact,  it  universally  prevails.  Now, 
the  truth  is,  that  the  city  of  Washington  is  no  city  at  all,  except 
in  name.  It  was  begun  to  be  built  only  about  sixteen  years  ago. 
The  congress  has  not  met  at  it  above  ten  or  twelve  years.  It  was 
built  by  a  sort  of  lottery,  the  shares  of  which  fell,  at  one  time,  to 
less  than  10  per  cent,  of  their  cost.  The  lottery  was  drawn  ;  the 
prizes  were  not  paid.  I  do  not,  indeed,  know  what  may  have  been 
done  since  I  left  the  country ;  but  at  that  time  it  was  the  general 
opinion  that  it  never  would  be  a  place  of  any  consideration,  though 
the  law  compelled  the  congress  to  meet  there.  "  Wherever  the 
king  is  there  is  the  court;19  but  the  republican  government  of 
America,  though  they  may  have  had  the  puerile  pride  of  erecting 
a  capitol  and  a  president's  palace,  could  not  make  a  city,  which 
implies  a  numerous  population,  and  great  wealth. 

But  our  officers,  naval  as  well  as  military,  appear  to  have  per- 
ceived what  would  hit  the  taste  of  war-loving  Johnny  Bull.  Johir- 
ny,  who  has  no  doubt  of  his  having  conquered  France,  would,  of 
course,  be  delighted  at  the  prospect  of  conquering  America,  to- 
wards which  he  would  necessarily  look  on  the  capture  of  Wash- 
ington as  an  almost  last  step ;  and,  indeed,  I  heard  some  people, 
usually  very  sensible,  say,  upon  the  receipt  of  the  news,  "  Tnank 
God,  we  shall  now  have  peace,  and  have  the  income  tax  taken  off." 
What,  in  the  eye  of  common  sense,  is  the  event  of  which  we  have 
made  such  a  boasting  ?  We  have,  with  an  enormously  superior 
naval  force,  ascended  a  very  capacious  bay  in  America,  to  the 
distance  of  about  sixty  miles.  We  have  landed  an  army ;  we  have 
repulsed  the  militia  of  superior  numbers  ;  (as  we  say  ;)  we  have  en- 
tered a  straggling  town  of  wooden  buildings,  which  our  own  news- 
papers had  told  us  the  Americans  themselves  had  acknowledged 

23 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

!o  be  defenceless;  we  have  set  fire  to  several  buildings  and  some 
ships ;  we  have,   thank  God,  burnf  the  president's  palace,  and  a 
building  on  a  ridiculously  grand  scale,  called  the  capital,  where 
the  legislature  of  the  union  held  its  sittings  ;  we  have  then  retreat- 
ed, and  regained  our  ships  with  such  haste,  that  we  have   been 
compelled  to  leave  our  dead,  and  many  of  our  wounded  officers,  as 
well  as  men,  to  the  mercy  of  an  enemy,  whom  our  newspapers  call 
unprincipled,  cowardly,  and  cruel.       This  is   what  the   Morning 
Chronicle  calls  one  of  the  most  "gallant  dashes"  of  the   war. 
This  is  styled  success.      This  is  a  victory  to  boast  of.     This  is 
to  induce  the  Americans  to  go  down  upon  their  knees,   and  solicit 
peace  on  any  terras  I     Why  did  our  army  not  remain  at  Wash-- 
ing ton  ?      VYhen  the  French  got  to  Berlin,  Vienna,  Naples,  Hano- 
ver, Madrid,  Amsterdam,  they  remained  in  them  as  long  as  they 
pleased.     When  they  got  to  Moscow  even,  they  remained  for  some 
weeks.     But  we — we  capture  the  metropolis  of  America,  and  we 
decamp  instantly.     We  set  off  in  such  haste,  that  we  leave  be- 
hind us  many  of  those  who  have  been  wounded  in  the  enterprise. 
Oh,  reader !  how  has  Napoleon  been  abused  for  leaving  behind 
him  his  sick  and  wounded,  when  he  retreated  from  Russia!  and 
yet  we  can  extol  the  bravery  and   wisdom  of  those  who,  in  our 
own  service,  do  the  same  thing  I     Far  am  i,  however,  from  blam- 
ing Mr.  Ross  for  leaving  his  wounded  behind  him ;  for,  in  the  first 
place,  he  was  sure  that  he  left  them  in  the  hands  of  a  very  humane 
people;  and,  in  the  next  place,  by  delaying  his  departure,  he 
might  have  added  a  very  long  list  to  his   killed   and  wounded. 
But  it  is  impossible  to  find  out  any  apology  for  Mr.  Ross,  upon 
this  occasion,  without  furnishing  an  apology  for  the  so-much-repro- 
bated conduct  of  Napoleon.     Mr.  Ross  assigns  the  best  possible 
reason  for  his  wonderful  expeditious  retreat  to  the  ships;  namely, 
be  was  afraid  that  if  he  delayed  this  movement,  the  militia  might 
collect  in  such  numbers  as  to  intercept  him.    The  militia.    What, 
that  same  sort  of  troops  whom  he  had  just  crerlhrown,  as  it  were, 
Ttj-niPr<?-ry^sliSi*WlS  his  red  coats?     How  were  they  to  collect  in 
such  haste  ?      WhefiGe  were  they  so  speedily  to  come  ?      Thank 
you,  Mr.  Ross,  for  this  acknowledgment,  though,  perhaps,  made 
involuntarily  ;  because  it  proves  clearly  that  you  were  fully  con- 
vinced that  ydu  were  not  among    a  people  on  whose  cowardice 
and  whose  want  of  patriotism  you  could  place  a  moment's  reliance  ; 
because  it  clearly  proves,  in  short,  that  if  we  succeediri  this  war, 
we  have  a  people,  an  armed  people,  to  subdue. 

There  is  one  fact  stated  in  the  report  of  the  enterprise,  to 
which  our  news  writers  pay  no  attention ;  but  which  is  of  very 
£reat  importance.  After  the  American  troops  had  gone  off,  and 
bft  ours  to  enter  the  city,  General  Ross,  our  commander,  had  his 
horse  shot  under  him,  as  he  war,  going  along  at  the  head  of  his 
men,  by  a  gun  fired  from  the  window  of  a  private  house*  There 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

can  be  no  doubt  that  the  ball  was  intended  for  (he  rider.  This 
might  have  given  him,  and,  I  dare  say,  did  give  him,  a  tolerable 
lively  idea  of  what  sort  of  people  he  was  got  amongst ;  and  it  ought 
to  convince  wise  Johnny  Bull,  that  to  follow  the  advice  of  the 
Times  newspaper,  and  send  a  large  force  into  the  heart  of  the 
country,  there  to  take  up  a  *'  commanding  position,"  is  much 
easier  upon  paper  than  it  is  upon  land.  The  Times  and  Courier 
are  nettled  that  our  commanders  did  not  date  their  des^atclies 
from  the  capital.  I  dare  say  that  they  had  an  inclination  that 
way;  but  then  the  militia  might  have  collected!  In  short,  they 
had  not  time  to  dojt  with  safety.  That  was  the  reason  why  they 
did  not  do  it!  and,  for  my  part,  I  think  the  reason  quite  satisfac- 
tory. The  episode  to  the  "brilliant  dash,"  seems  to  have  been 
marked  with  nearly  all  the  characteristics  of  the  "  brilliant  dash" 
itself.  Sir  Peter  Parker,  with  his  ship's  company  and  marines,  go 
in  search  of  a  parcel  of  militia  in  a  mood.  The  reader  may  not, 
perhaps,  be  aware,  that  there  is  no  sort  of  resemblance  between  the 
American  and  the  English  militia.  These  militia  in  America  re- 
ceive no  pay,  no  clothing,  no  arms,  from  the  government.  Every 
man  soes  out  in  his  own  ordinary  array,  and  carries  his  own  arms 
and  accoutrements.  Ninety-nine  times  out  of  a  hundred  he  finds 
his  own  powder  and  bail.  In  short,  it  was  a  body  of  the  people, 
voluntarily  assembled,  and  acknowledging  no  superior  not  of  their 
own  electing:  this  was  the  sort  of  force  against  whom  Sir  Peter 
Parker  marched.  They  were,  as  usual,  greatly  superior  in  num- 
bers ;  and,  as  usual,  they  were  defeated,  and  ran  away-  But,  in 
the  end,  Sir  Peter  lost  his  life,  and  his  second  in  command  suc- 
ceeded   in  what?  Why,  in  bringing  off  to 

the  ship  almost  all  our  wounded ! 

As  to  the  destruction  of  the  public  buildings  at  the  city  of  Washing- 
ton, it  will  give  great  pleasure  to  all  those  who  really  love  republican 
governments.  There  are  palaces  enough  elsewhere.  America  wants 
none  ;  and  it  will,  I  dare  say,  be  very  long  before  she  will  see  an- 
other. There  are  very  good  buildings  in  Baltimore,  Philadelphia, 
and  many  other  elegant  and  populous  cities.  There  wants  no 
grandeur  ;  there  wants  no  capitol,  no  palace,  no  metropolis,  no 
court.  All  these  bring  taxes  and  standing  armies;  and  the  Ame- 
ricans want  neither.  There  was,  the  other  day,  an  article  in  the 
Times  newspaper  which  struck  me  as  a  remarkable  instance  of  the 
force  of  habit,  and  as  a  clear  proof  that  a  man  may  accustom  him- 
self to  slavish  ideas,  till  he,  in  good  earnest,  regards  as  a  reproach 
every  mark  of  freedom.  The  article  to  which  I  allude,  was  a 
commentary  on  a  paper  published  by  a  person  to  whom  the  de- 
fence of  New- York  was  committed,  and  who,  in  a  very  pressing 
manner,  invites,  exhorts,  requests,  and  beseeches  persons  capable 
of  bearing  arms,  to  come  forth  and  augment  his  force,  &c.  &c. 
Upon  this,  the  editor  of  the  Times  observes,  that  this  ofiicer  c:i t? 


180  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

a  most  sorry  and  lamentable  figure ;  and  he  jests  most  merriljr 
upon  the  lone  of  the  poor  gentleman,  *'  who,"  says  he,  "  invites, 
exhorts,  requests,  beseeches :  anything  but  COMMANDS."  Well! 
and  what  of  that  ?  Are  the  people  less  happy  because  no  one  as- 
sumes a  commanding  tone  towards  them  ?  Is  their  situation  less 
enviable  for  that  ?  Is  their  character  less  dignified  because  they 
will  not  suffer  themselves  to  be  commanded  in  any  way  whatever  ? 
They  do  not  like  to  be  commanded  by  any  body  ;  and  why  should 
we  quarrel  with  them  on  that  account? 

This  editor,  and  many  others,  seem  astonished  that  Mr.  Madi- 
son should  have  been  two  years  at  war  without  being  prepared 
for  defence.  But  what  do  they  mean  by  defence  ?  Three  hun- 
dred— nay,  twenty  hundred  thousand  men,  would  not  be  sufficient 
to  guard  every  point,  where  a  few  men  can  be  landed  for  a  few 
hours,  on  a  coast  (including  bays  and  mouths  of  rivers)  of  three  or 
four  thousand  miles  in  extent.  Such  adventures  as  admiral  Coch- 
rane  gives  an  account  of,  might,  with  such  a  navy  as  ours,  be  per- 
formed on  such  an  extent  of  coast  in  spite  of  two  or  three  millions 
of  regular  soldiers.  The  defence  of  America,  and,  indeed,  of  any 
country,  does  not  mean  the  preventing  of  the  bombardment  of  a 
village,  or  the  burning  of  a  city,  or  the  carrying  off  of  "  stock." 
It  means  the  preventing  of  that  country  from  being  subdued,  or, 
so  much  crippled  as  to  make  a  disgraceful  peace.  And  this  de- 
fence, in  America,  must  be  left  to  the  people  themselves.  Mr. 
Madison  could  raise  no  regular  armies.  The  people  do  not  give 
him  the  means  to  do  it.  They  know  very  well  that,  for  want  of 
a  regular  army,  they  are  liable  to  have  some  towns  knocked  down, 
or  sacked  ;  but  they  prefer  this  to  the  putting  of  a  standing  army 
in  the  hands  of  any  man  in  their  country.  We,  indeed,  are  of  a 
taste  widely  different.  We  have  field  marshals,  hundreds  of  ge- 
nerals, and  colonels,  and  majors,  and  captains,  and  barrack-masters, 
and  commissaries,  and  cadets,  and  so  on.  We  have  military  de- 
pots, academies,  colleges,  and  so  on,  to  a  long  list.  We  have,  be- 
sides, great  numbers  of  foreign  officers,  some  of  whom  have  had 
commands  in  England  itself,  and  of  counties  of  England.  We 
have  also  great  numbers  of  foreign  soldiers  in  our  pay.  This  is 
our  taste.  We  like  to  have  these  people.  But,  then,  we  very 
cheerfully  pay  for  all  these  fine  things.  We  are  willing  to  pur- 
chase our  safety  in  this  way.  Now,  as  I  never  heard  that  the  Ame- 
ricans have  quarrelled  with  us  on  this  account,  why  should  we  quar- 
rel with  them  for  their  taste  ?  They  prefer  a  few  towns  sacked  or 
beaten  down  now  and  then,  to  the  paying  for  a  standing  army,  for  bar- 
racks, depots,  military  colleges.  Their  taste  may  be  bad.  They 
may  prove  themselves  very  stupid  in  not  liking  to  see  their  streets 
crowded  with  beautiful,  tall,  straight  gentlemen,  with  pretty  hats 
and  caps,  with  furs,  and  whiskers,  with  cloaks,  ami  glittering 
i,  words,  and  boots,  that  shine  like  japan  mugs.  But  stupidity  is  no. 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  181 

crime ;  and  if  they  do  not  like  these  things,  we,  who  have  so 
much  more  refinement  amongst  us,  and  so  much  more  elevation  of 
mind,  should  view  them  with  pity  rather  than  with  scorn;  should 
speak  of  them  with  compassion,  rather  than  with  reproach.  We 
might  as  reasonably  reproach  them  (and  the  French  too,  by  the 
J>y)  for  not  having  a  taste  for  tytkes.  We  like  these  too.  Mr. 
Burke  said  so  many  years  ago.  We  like  to  give  cur  clergy  a 
tenth  part  of  our  crops.  But,  then,  have  we  not  our  churches  and 
cathedrals,  our  prayers  and  sermons,  our  bells  and  our  singing,  our 
Lord's  supper,  our  baptism,  confirmation,  churching  of  women, 
absolution  of  the  sick,  and  burial  of  the  dead.  We  have  all  these 
things,  and  a  great  many  more,  in  return  for  the  tenth  of  our  crops  ; 
and  the  Americans  (poor  fellows!)  have  none  of  them.  Yet  we 
ought  not  to  reproach  them  on  this  account.  It  is,  doubtless,  bad 
taste  in  them  ;  but,  as  I  said  before,  bad  taste  is  not  criminal. 

Another  thing  I  wish  to  point  out  to  the  attention  of  the  reader. 
He  frequently  sees,  in  our  newspapers,  extracts  from  American 
papers,  all  tending  to  degrade  the  government  and  decry  its  mea- 
sures. Out  of  the  three  or  four  hundred  newspapers,  published 
in  America,  there  are,  probably,  ten  or  twelve  who  proceed  in 
this  tone.  These  are  carefully  sent  hither  by  consuls,  or  other 
persons  residing  there.  From  these  only,  extracts  are  published 
here  ;  and,  be  it  observed,  that  if  we  possessed  the  papers  on  the 
other  side  of  the  question,  we  should  be  exposed  to  utter  ruin  if 
we  were  to  publish  such  extracts  from  them  as  it  would  be  neces- 
sary to  publish  in  order  to  give  the  public  a  fair  view  of  the  state 
of  men's  minds  in  America.  But  the  hireling  prints  here  do  one 
thing  for  us  :  they,  by  their  extracts,  prove  to  us  how  great  is 
freedom  in  America.  The  Times  tells  us,  that  one  paper  in 
America  expresses  its  opinion  that  the  president  himself  had  a 
narrow  escape  from  Washington :  and  that  another  expresses  its 
regret  that  he  was  not  taken  by  the  enemy.  Now,  reader,  ima- 
gine, for  a  moment,  the  case  of  an  enemy  landed  in  England,  and 
some  writer  expressing  his  regret  that  the  said  enemy  had  not 
captured  the  king!  You  tremble  for  the  unfortunate  creature. 
I  see  you  tremble.  Your  teeth  chatter  in  your  head ;  I  hear  them 
chatter :  and  well  they  may.  How  many  loyal  men  do  I  hear 
exclaim  :  "  Send  the  traitor  to  the  gallows !  rip  out  his  bowels  and 
throw  them  in  his  face !  Cut  oflfhis  head  !  Quarter  his  vile  carcass, 
and  put  the  quarters  at  the  king's  disposal !"  Yet  we  hear  the 
American  writers  wishing  that  their  chief  magistrate  had  been 
taken  by  the  enemy ;  and  we  do  not  find  that  any  thing  is  either 
said  or  done  to  them.  Their  publications  are  suffered  to  take 
their  free  course.  If  they  be  true,  and  speak  sense  and  reason, 
they  will  gain  adherents,  as  they  ought.  If  false,  or  foolish,  they 
will  only  gain  the  writers  hatred  or  contempt,  which,  I  dare  say, 
has  been  the  case  in  the  instance  before  us.  But,  reader,  let  us 


182  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

not,  with  this  fact  full  in  our  eyes,  be  induced  to  believe  that 
the  Americans  have  nothing  to  fight  for;  or  that  any  man  who 
loves  freedom  can  wish  to  see  a  change  in  the  government ;  or,  at 
least,  in  the  sort  of  government  which  exists  in  that  country.  As 
to  Mr.  Madison,  against  whom  our  hired  men  rail  so  much,  he 
cannot  be  much  to  blame  for  any  thing  relating  to  the  war.  It 
was  the  congress ;  the  representatives  of  the  people;  the  real, 
not  the  sham  representatives  of  the  people — who  declared  war. 
In  fact,  it  was  the  people  themselves,  who  were  resolved  no 
longer  to  endure  that  which  they  had  so  long,  and  so  loudly  com- 
plained of.  A  war  in  America  must  be  the  people's  war.  The 
defence  of  the  country  must  be  left  to  the  people.  Not  only  as 
to  the  fighting,  but  as  to  the  time,  place,  and  every  thing  else  be- 
longing to  the  war.  The  people  know  very  well  the  extent  of 
their  danger.  They  are  well  apprized  of  every  thing.  They 
were  aware  beforehand  that  what  has  taken  place  would  take 
place;  and  though  many  individuals  must  and  will  suffer,  that 
will  excite  no  general  discontent  against  the  government.  Of  one 
thing  I  am  very  certain  ;  and  that  is,  that  we  are  carrying  on  pre- 
cisely that  sort  of  warfare  which  all  the  real  friends  of  republican 
government  would  wish  to  see  us  carry  on.  It  is  a  sort  of  war- 
fare (especially  when  the  ground  of  the  war  is  considered)  which 
cannot  fail  to  unite  the  parties,  into  which  the  people  have  been 
divided ;  nor  do  I  think  it  at  all  improbable,  that  we  may  cause 
Mr.  Madison  to  be  president  four  years  longer  than  he  would  have 
been  without  our  war  against  his  country,  and  our  threat  to  tlepose 
him.  For  many  men  will  naturally  say  that,  though  they  would  have 
liked  to  see  him,  following  the  example  ofWashington  and  Jefferson, 
decline  a  third  term  as  president ;  yet,  seeing  that  his  so  doing 
might  be  interpreted  as  a  mark  of  submission  to  us,  he  ought 
again  to  be  elected. 

The  favourite  idea  in  England  appears  to  be,  that  we  ought  to 
send  out  a  great  overwhelming  force,  get  possession  of  some  place 
in  the  heart  of  the  country,  and  there  compel  the  government  to 
surrender  up  the  republic  on  our  own  terms.  I  suppose  that  our 
commanders  knew  better  than  to  attempt  any  thing  of  the  kind. 
I  suppose  that  our  government  knew  better  than  to  order  them,  or 
to  authorize  them  to  make  any  such  attempt.  And  yet,  what  are 
we  to  do  by  such  a  mode  of  warfare  as  we  are  now  carrying  on  ? 
Suppose  we  were  to  get  possession  of  New-York,  and  some  other 
maritime  towns,  what  should  we  gain  but  an  enormous  expense 
to  keep  those  places  ?  Cooped  up  in  them,  how  ridiculous  should 
we  look !  No  :  we  shall  never  beat  that  people,  unless  the  people 
themselves  join  us  ;  and  as  this  has  not  been  the  case  yet  in  any 
one  instance,  what  reason  have  we  to  expect  but  that  it  never  will 
be  the  case,  in  spite  of  ;tll  the  allurements  held  out  to  that  people 
in  the  prospect  of  participating  in  the  support  of  the  army,  the 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  1 83 

«avy,  the  church,  the  law,  the  nobility,  and  the  financial  system 
of  the  former  "  mother  country  ?"  But  we  must  not,  in  this  larger 
view  of  the  American  war,  overlook  particular  events,  and  espe- 
cially that  just  announced  to  us  from  Fort  Erie. 

In  my  last  I  noticed  the  bloody  battle  of  Chippewa.  After  that 
battle,  it  appears  that  the  contest  was  renewed  (our  army  having 
been  reinforced)  in  the  front  of  Fort  Erie,  into  which  the  Yankees 
had  retired,  and  where  our  gallant  countrymen  and  their  associates 
seemed  to  have  been  resolutely  bent  to  fulfil  our  wishes,  and  to 
give  them  "  a  drubbing."  Alas  !  the  "  drubbing"  fell  upon  our 
own  gallant  army,  who  amounted  to  only  about  two  thousand  men, 
and  who  were  compelled  to  retreat  with  all  possible  speed,  leaving 
905  either  dead,  wounded,  or  prisoners !  The  American  general, 
Gaines,  says,  that  he  destroyed  our  people  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet.  Our  general  says  that  the  angle  of  a  bastion  was  blown 
up  with  two  hundred  of  our  men  on  it.  .This  last  might  be,  and 
yet  the  case  would  not  be  much  altered  in  our  favour.  Such  a 
conflict  as  this  I  never  before  read  of.  It  surpasses  that  of  Chip- 
pewa ;  and  that  surpassed,  in  point  of  proportionate  destruction, 
any  thing  in  modern  warfare.  And  it  ought  to  be  observed,  that 
a  great  part  of  this  army  of  Yankees  were  militia  ;  some  of  them 
volunteers;  and  not  a  man  of  them  who  would  suffer  any  one  to 
say  that  he  had  him  under  his  command  !  It  is,  then,  a  fact  be- 
yond all  dispute,  that  the  Yankees  will  sometimes  fight ;  and  as 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  ascertaining  beforehand  the  precise  time 
when  the  fighting  fit  will  come  on  them,  they  being  such  an  irre- 
gular sort  of  people,  and  subject  to  no  kind  of  discipline,  I  think 
it  is  the  height  of  prudence  in  our  commanders  on  the  Atlantic 
coast  not  to  venture  too  far  at  a  time  from  our  ships. 

Upon  hearing  of  the  battle  of  Erie,  (for  it  cost  as  many  men  as 
several  of  the  battles  of  Wellington,)  I  was,  I  must  confess,  eager 
to  hear  what  the  Times  writer  would  be  able  to  say  upon  the  sub- 
ject. I  had  half  a  mind  to  hope  that  he  would  begin  to  repent  of 
the  part  he  had  acted  in  the  stirring  up  of  this  war ;  but  on  reflec- 
tion, I  concluded  that,  like  the  reprobates  mentioned  in  the  good 
book,  repentance  was  not  in  his  power.  This  conclusion  was  right, 
as  the  reader  will  now  see. 

"  The  unfortunate  event  which  cast  a  partial  shade  over  the 
successes  of  our  Canadian  army,  is  at  length  communicated  to  us 
in  an  authentic  shape.  We  extract  from  the  papers  received 
yesterday  from  that  part  of  the  world,  a  copy  of  Sir  George  Pre- 
vost's  general  order,  dated  Montreal,  25th  of  August,  which  states 
the  loss  sustained  at  the  attack  on  Fort  Erie,  on  the  13th  pre- 
ceding, at  80*2  killed,  wounded,  and  missing.  Compared  with  the 
whole  number  of  General  Drumuiond's  force,  this  loss  is  no  doubt 
very  considerable  j  but  we  are  glad  to  see  no  hint  given  that  the 
event  is  likely  to  occasion  our  troops  to  fall  back.  The  misad- 


184  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

venture  must,  no  doubt,  be  ranked  amongst  those  chances  ofwitr 
to  which  the  bravest  armies,  and  best-laid  plans,  are  subject. 
It  was  preceded  by  a  brilliant  achievement,  executed  four  days 
before  by  captain  Dobbs,  of  the  royal  navy,  who,  with  a  party  of 
seamen  and  marines,  most  gallantly  boarded  and  took  two  armed 
schooners,  anchored  close  to  Fort  Erie.  The  consequence  of  this 
capture  being  to  deprive  the  enemy's  position  of  a  great  part  of 
its  defence,  Gen.  Drummond  resolved  to  follow  it  up  by  a  general 
attack  on  Fort  Erie  and  the  American  entrenchments.  In  this 
daring  attempt  he  had  nearly  attained  complete  success.  The  spirit 
of  our  brave  soldiers  surmounted  every  ob  tacle.  They  had  ac- 
tually entered  the  fort,  and  had  already  turned  part  of  its  guns 
against  the  enemy's  last  point  of  refuge,  when  suddenly  a  tremen- 
dous explosion  took  place,  which  not  only  destroyed  many  valuable 
lives,  but  necessarily  involved  all  our  operations  in  confusion,  and 
left  no  alternative  but  a  precipitate  retreat  to  our  first  approaches. 
It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  General  Gaines's  boast  of  having  re- 
pulsed our  men  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  is  idle  gasconade. 
The  lamentable  result  was,  in  all  probability,  occasioned  by  acci- 
dent ;  but  if  the  American  general  had  any  share  in  it,  it  was  one 
which  reflected  more  credit  on  his  policy  than  on  his  bravery.  To 
spring  a  mine  on  an  assailing  enemy  may  be,  in  such  circumstances, 
an  allowable  mode  of  destruction  ;  but  whilst  humanity  is  pr.ined 
by  contemplating  such1  an  event,  there  is  no  counter  feeling  of 
admiration  for  the  heroism  of  those  by  whom  the  dreadful  deed 
was  executed  !" 

Oh  !  you  vile  hypocrite!  "  humanity'9  on  your  lips  !  on  those 
same  lips  from  which  have  proceeded  so  many  urgert  exhortations 
to  exterminate  the  Americans;  and  who,  in  this  v  num- 

ber of  your  sanguinary  paper,  commend  Sir  Tho;'<a:<  H  d;.  for 
having  bombarded,  and,  as  you  then  thought,  burnf  to  in? 

dwellings  of  the  people  of  the  village  of  Stonir-gton  !     Hv 

fa  ! This  cant  may  do  in  a  country  where  cant  is  so  mu      in 

vogue;  but  be  you  assured  that  it  will  only  exci<e  r.on  f  .-.;»  in 
the  breast  of  the  enemy.  You  can  discover  "  no  herois/-;.''  ran 
you,  in  the  defenders  of  Fort  Erie,  who  had  lost  their  \ 
defence  before  the  battle  began?  The  three  officers  of  colonel 
Scott's  regiment,  who  came  out  of  the  battle  alive  and  not  Kdimd- 
ed,  would,  like  Job's  servants,  tell  you  a  different  story  j  unless, 
indeed,  like  Bobadil,  they  were  (which  I  av-'i  >uie  they  would 
not  do)  to  attribute  their  beating  ^o  the  planets,  instead  of  the 
American  bayonets.  For  my  part,  I  believe  Gff.eral  Gaines's  in 
preference  to  General  Drummond's  report.  N  1  Because  I  ques- 
tion the  veracity  of  the  latter,  but  because  I  krio-v  that  he  might 
be  misinformed,  and  that  General  Gaines  could  not  be  misinformed, 
as  to  the  fact.  But,  as  I  said  before,  this  f^ct  of  the  blowing  up 
of  the  angle  of  a  bastion  does  not  materially  affect  the  merits  of 


Litters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

the  case ;  and,  unless  (he  American  people  be  very  different  in 
their  natures  from  all  other  people,  the  event  must  have  created  a 
wonderful  sensation  in  the  country ;  and  I  am  sure,  that,  in  the 
eyes  of  any  man  in  England  whose  reason  is  not  totally  deadened 
by  prejudice,  it  must  have  excited  a  dread  that,  if  we  pursue  that 
project  of  subjugation  so  strongly  recommended  by  the  writers 
here,  we  are  now  embarked  in  a  war  of  extraordinary  bloodshed, 
of  no  ordinary  duration,  and  of  an  expense  that  will  keep  on  all 
our  present  taxes,  and  occasion  constant,  annual  loans. 


TO  THE  PRINCE  REGENT. 

Sir, 

DURING  the  years  1811  and  1812,  while  I  was  imprisoned 
in  a  felon's  jail,  for  having  written  and  caused  to  be  printed  and 
published,  an  article  on  the  subject  of  flogging  of  English  local  mi- 
litiamen, at  the  town  of  Ely,  in  England,  and  about  the  attendance 
of  German  troops  at  the  ceremony ;  while  I  was  expiating  this 
offence  by  two  years  imprisonment  in  a  felon's  jail,  and  by  paying, 
at  the  close  of  the  period,  a  thousand  pounds  fine  to  you,  acting  in, 
the  name  and  behalf  of  your  Father,  who,  during  my  imprisonment, 
became  afflicted  with  his  present  malady  ;  during  this  long  period 
of  seclusion  from  my  home  and  from  the  wholesome  air,  I  addressed 
to  you  several  letters  on  the  dispute  with  America;  in  which  let- 
ters I  endeavoured  to  convince  you  that  the  dispute,  if  it  termina- 
ted in  war,  might  lead  to  very  fatal  consequences  to  this  country. 
I,  in  these  letters,  stated  clearly  the  grounds  of  the  dispute ;  I 
traced  the  causes  of  our  ill  blood  with  America  to  their  origin  ;  I 
pointed  out  how  the  dispute  might  be  put  an  end  to  without  a  war ; 
I  endeavoured  to  show  you  the  probable  fatal  consequences  of  a 
war  with  that  nation  of  freemen,  taking  up  arms  voluntarily,  and 
upon  conviction  of  the  goodness  of  their  cause.  I  spent  whole 
days  and  nights  in  endeavours  to  warn  you  against  believing  the 
reports  of  the  venal  wretches  who  were  labouring  to  persuade  this 
nation  that  we  had  only  to  go  to  war  with  Mr.  Madison  in  order 
to  effect  a  breaking  up  of  the  American  union  ;  and  I  was  the 
more  anxious  on  this  point,  as  it  was  the  general  opinion,  that,  un- 
less the  states  could  be  induced  to  divide,  we  never  should  long 
be  able  to  cope  with  them  in  a  war  within  their  territory. 

As  the  vanity  naturally  belonging  to  an  author  makes  me  con- 
clude that  you  read  these  letters  with  great  attention,  I  will  not 
here  go  into  any  detail  on  their  contents.  But  if  we  now  look  at 
the  state  of  the  war  in  the  gross,  -,rithout  any  particular  feature 
being  taken  into  view,  does  it  not  appear  that  we  should  have  been 
fortunate  if  my  advice  had  been  followed?  Weshnnld  never  then 


i  ::i>  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

have  heard  of  the  affairs  of  the  Java  and  Guerriere,  the  Macedo- 
nian, (he  Avon,  and  many  others ;  nor  should  we  have  ever  heard 
of  the  battles  of  Lake  Erie  and  Lake  Chaoiplain. 

For  the  present  I  will  confine  myself  to  the  last-mentioned  bat- 
tle, which  has  excited  great  attention  all  over  Europe,  and  has 
called  forth,  on  the  victors,  the  most  unqualified  expressions  of 
praise  and  admiration  from  our  neighbours,  the  French,  where,  be 
it  observed,  nothing  is  published  but  with  the  consent  of  the  govern- 
ment. 

This  h  a  naval  affair  ;  an  affair  purely  naval.  There  appears 
to  have  been  no  accidental  circumstance  to  affect  it.  The  force 
on  each  side  was  as  nearly  equal  as  need  be,  in  order  to  come  at  a 
I) roof  of  the  relative  merits  of  the  two  fleets.  The  battle,  there- 
fore, will  be  considered  of  ten  thousand  times  more  importance  in 
this  light  than  in  the  light  of  its  effects  upon  the  campaign  in  Ca- 
nada. But,  before  I  proceed  to  the  consequences  of  this  battle,  I 
think  it  best  to  say  a  word  or  two  upon  the  subject  of  the  place 
where  the  battle  was  fought.  Lake  Champlain  is  partly  in  your 
father's  provinces  of  Canada,  and  partly  in  the  territory  of  the  re- 
public of  America.  It  is,  perhaps,  150  miles  long,  and  from  half 
a  mile  to  10  or  15  miles  wide.  1  do  not  know  that  I  can  much 
better  describe  it  than  by  comparing  it  to  the  SERPENTINE 
RIVER  in  Hyde  Park,  which  is  fed  out  of  the  lakes  in  Ken- 
sington gardens.  The  boundary  line  across  Lake  Champlain  is 
very  neatly  and  aptly  represented  by  the  embankment  and  bridge 
which  separate  the  upper  from  the  lower  part  of  the  Serpentine 
Hirer ;  and  the  ponds  and  ditches  leading  from  that  separation 
down  through  Chelsea  to  the  Thames,  very  luckily  come  to  re- 
present the  British  part  of  Lake  Champlain,  which  empties  its 
overflowings  into  the  St.  Lawrence  between  Montreal  and  Quebec, 
and  which  is  the  only  highway  from  the  republican  territory  to 
those  two  chief  seats  of  the  power  of  the  house  of  Brunswick  in 
that  country. 

Whether  it  was  this  strong  resemblance  in  the  shape  of  Lake 
Champlain  and  that  of  the  Serpentine  River  which  led,  some  few 
months  ago,  to  the  ingenious  device  of  exhibiting  hostile  fleets  in 
miniature  on  the  latter,  I  have  not  been  informed;  but  there  are 
few  persons  in  this  country,  I  believe,  who  do  not  sorely  grieve  to 
think,  that  in  the  battles  upon  these  two  waters  the  representation 
should  have  differed  so  widely  from  that  of  reality,  the  accounts  of 
which  have  recently  come  to  hand.  The  battle  on  the  Serpen- 
tine River,  though  contested  for  some  time  pretty  stoutly  by  the 
Yankees,  was  at  last  decided  in  our  favour.  Britannia,  1  am  told, 
(for  I  saw  it  not,)  with  the  trident  of  Neptune  in  her  hand,  was 
seen  crowning  her  sons  with  bay,  while  poor  JONATHAN,  with  his 
lank  hair  hanging  over  his  drooping  head,  stood  a  captive  under 


Letters  of  William  Colbett,  Esq.  18? 

his  own  flag,  which  was  hanging  reversed  under  that  of  3- our  royal 
house ;  thereby  indicating  not  only  a  naval  superiority  over  the 
Yankees,  but  anticipating  that,  whenever  they  should  dare  to  meet 
us,  they  would  be  beaten  and  captured.  There  was  not,  I  believe, 
an  opportunity  of  exhibiting  this  scene  to  the  emperor  of  Russia 
and  king  of  Prussia,  who  were  thus  deprived  of  a  sight  of  those 
signs  ot  ecstatic  delight  which  the  people  expressed,  and  of  a  hear- 
ing of  their  heart-cheering  shouts,  when  they  sav?  poor  Jonathan 
haul  down  his  colours,  and  when  they  heard  the  martial  bands 
strike  up  "  Rule  Britannia,  Britannia  rule  the  waves!"  in  the 
chorus  of  which  they  joined  with  their  half  a  million  of  male  and 
female  voices,  till  the  sound  seemed  to  fill  all  the  space  between 
the  earth  and  the  sky.  The  foreign  sovereigns  were,  for  want  of 
time,  deprived  of  this  sight.  But  in  the  harbour  of  Portsmouth, 
on  the  day  of  your  arrival  there  in  company  with  them,  I  myself 
saw,  on  board  of  some  ships,  the  flag  of  poor  JONATHAN  again  re- 
versed, and  hanging  under  that  of  your  Royal  House. 

Alas,  sir!  how  different  has  been  the  reality  from  the  anticipa- 
ting representation  .'  upon  Lake  Champlain,  that  Serpentine  River 
on  a  grand  scale,  how  different  has  been  the  event  from  that  of  the 
representation,  which  drew  forth  the  air-rending  shouts  of  half  a 
million  of  the  people  of  this  country!  Aye,  of  half  a  million  of  a 
people,  on  whom  it  is  no  more  than  a  just  eulogium  to  say,  that 
they  are,  in  every  respect,  worthy  of  being  the  subjects  of  the 
king  that  reigns  ov«r  them,  and  of  the  regent  who  acts  in  the  name 
and  behalf  of  that  king  !  There  are  some  few  exceptions,  to  be 
sure ;  some  few  malecontents ;  some  few,  whom  neither  king  nor 
dod  can  please.  But,  speaking  of  them  in  a  mass,  your  father's 
people  are  worthy  of  such  a  sovereign,  and  such  a  sovereign  is 
worlhy  of  such  a  people. 

To  return  to  the  battle  of  Lake  Champlain,  I  have  deeply  to 
lament  that  WE  HAVE  NOT  HAD  ANY  OFFICIAL  AC- 
COUNTS  PUBLISHED  RESPECTING  IT,  and  yet  it  is 
now  the  Tth  of  November.  It  is  not  for  me  to  presume  to  know, 
or  even  to  guess,  why  no  such  account  has  yet  been  published.  So 
far  am  I  from  attempting  to  find  fault  upon  this  occasion  with 
men  in  power,  that  I  am  not  even  disposed  to  inquire  into  their 
motives  for  not  publishing  the  account  in  question.  I  am  quite 
willing  to  allow,  that  they  are  the  best  possible  judges  of  what  they 
are  about ;  that  they  know  best  when  to  publish  and  when  to  be 
silent.  But  I  may,  and  I  must,  lament  their  not  publishing,  because, 
in  the  meanwhile,  the  republican  account  is  gone  forth  to  the  world, 
and  which  account  is  calculated  to  make  a  most  injurious  impres- 
sion upon  the  world,  particularly  with  regard  to  the  relative  value 
of  the  naval  characters  of  the  republic  of  America,  and  of  the  uni* 
*ed  kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  If  the  republican  ac- 


188  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

count  be  true,  the  event  was,  in  this  view  of  it,  the  most  fatal  thai 
can  be  imagined ;  for  not  only  were  your  royal  father's  ships  supe- 
rior in  both  men  and  guns  ;  not  only  was  his  majesty's  fleet  beaten 
by  the  republicans  under  such  circumstances,  but  it  was  taken,  all 
taken,  and  that,  too,  without  any  very  great  slaughter!  The  re- 
publican account  is  as  follows ;  and,  as  you  will  perceive,  it  is 
published  from  that  very  city  of  Washington,  the  public  edifices 
of  which  your  royal  father's  fleet  and  army  so  recently  burnt  to 
the  ground. 


WASHINGTON,  September  19. 
Copy  of  a  letter  from  Commodore  Macdonough  to  the  Secretary  of  the  JVavy, 

dated  U.  S.  ship  Saratoga,  off  Plat tsburg,  Sept.  11. 

"  SIR — The  Almighty  has  been  pleased  to  grant  us  a  signal  victory  on  Lake  Champ- 
Iain,  in  the  capture  of  one  frigate,  one  brig,  and  two  sloops  of  war  of  the  enemy. 
1  have  the  honour  to  be,  very  respectfully,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 
(Signed)  T.  MACDONOUGH^Cora.  ; 

Hon.  W.  Jones t  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 


Guns. 

Men,        Killed.    Wounded. 

Large  ship, 

39 

300              50              60 

Brig, 

16 

120              20              30 

Growler, 

11 

40                6              10 

Eagle, 

11 

40                8              10 

13  Gun-boats, 

18 

550    two  probably  sunk. 

Total,       95  1050  84  110 


Several  of  the  gun-boats  struck;  but  the  sinking  state  of  the  large  vessels  requir- 
ed the  assistance  of  the  men  in  our  gallies,  so  that  not  being  able  to  take  possession 
of  them;  they  were  able  to  save  themselves  by  fight. 


AMERICAN. 


Guns. 

Men, 

Killed. 

Wounded. 

Saratoga,  ship, 

26 

210 

28 

29 

Eagle,  brig 

20 

120 

13 

29 

Ticonderoga,  schr. 

17 

110 

6 

6 

ljrei>le,  sloop, 

7 

SO 

2 

0 

10  Gun-boats, 

16 

350 

3 

3 

Total,    86  820  52  58 

Thus,  sir,  if  this  account  be  true,  (for  I  do  only  speak  bypo- 
thetically,)  the  royal  fleet  had  more  guns  and  more  men  than  the 
republican  fleet,  and  yet  the  royal  fleet  was  not  only  beaten,  but 
all  CAPTURED!  This  American  commodore  is  very  laconic. 
He  does  not  seem  to  regard  such  an  event  as  worthy  of  any  very 
particular  detail.  He  does  not  seem  to  have  observed  any  par- 
iicular  instance  of  courage  or  skill  in  his  officers  and  men.  In 
sijort,  he  seems  to  have  thought,  that  what  had  happened  was  DO 


Letters  of  William  Cobbdt,  Esq.  18p 

more  than  what  his  country  would  expect,  notwithstanding  all  that 
the  people  of  England  had  seen  on  the  Serpentine  River.  lie 
talks  of  no  difficulties  ;  no  dangers  ;  no  resistance  ;  and,  if  the  ac- 
count be  true,  he  took  the  whole  fleet  before  he  had  killed  and 
wounded  ajifth  part  of  its  men,  and  before  he  had  lost  in  killed 
and  wounded  only  about  aneighthpart  of  his  own  men.  Mr.  Ma- 
dison, in  his  account  of  the  battle,  if  it  may  be  so  called,  is  still 
more  provokingly  laconic  and  reserved.  He  says,  "  The  British 
squadron  lately  came  into  action  with  the  American  on  Lake 
Champlain  ;  it  issued  in  the  capture  of  the  whole  of  the  enemy's 
ships.  The  best  praise  of  Captain  Macdonough  and  his  intrepid 
comrades,  is  the  likeness  of  his  triumph  to  the  illustrious  victory 
which  immortalized  another  officer  OH  another  lake."  Thus  hint- 
ing to  the  world  (hat  such  events  as  this  are  nothing  new.  Mr. 
Madison,  it  was  anticipated  by  the  sages  who  write  in  the  Times 
newspaper,  would  talk  very  big  about  this  victory,  and  thereby 
blind  the  people  with  regard  to  their  dangers.  Beseems  to  have 
been  determined  to  make  them  false  prophets.  He  does  but  just 
notice  this  victory  in  a  transient  sort  of  way,  and  dwells  with  great 
force,  and  with  studious  care,  on  the  dangers  which  the  people  of 
the  republic  have  to  meet. 

Now,  sir,  this  republican  account  is  either  true  or  false.     I  da 
not  pretend  to  say  that  it  is  true,  though  it  has  not  been  officially 
contradicted  in  any  one  particular,  and  though  my  brother  jour- 
nalists seem,  by  implication  at  least,  to  admit  the  truth  of  it,  [ 
have  not,  I  do  not,  and  I  will  not,  say  that  it  is  true,  even  should 
every  other  man  in  the  kingdom  say  it.    But  I  humbly  presume  that 
I  may  venture  to  assert  that  it  is  either  true  or  false.     If  looked  on 
as  true,  it  certainly  must  produce,  and  must  already  have  produced, 
a  very  great  effect  on  the  minds  of  thinking  men  in  all  those  parts 
of  the  world  to  which  a  knowledge  of  it  has  extended.      It  will 
produce  this  effect:  it  will  cause  it  to  be  believed,  that  a  ship  of 
the  royal  navy  of  Great  Britain  is  not  equal  to  the  task  of  corn- 
bating  a  ship  of  equal  force  belonging  to  the  republic  of  America, 
commanded  by  officers,  and  manned  by  men,  of  that  republic.    It 
is  impossible  for  any  man,  not  a  fool,  or  not  blinded  by  some  sort 
of  passion,  to  be  ignorant  that  such  must  be  the  effect  of  this  bat- 
tle, if  the  republican  account  of  it  pass  for  true.     It  is  equally  im- 
possible for  any  man  to  hope  that  it  will  not  pass  for  true,  until  it- 
be  explicitly  and  officially  stated  to  be  false,  and  until  it  be  proved 
also  to  be  false.      The  world  will  naturally  ask  how  it  has  hap- 
pened that  the  British  government,  who  are  so  exact  in  publishing 
every  account  of  our  naval  operations;  who  do  not  omit  the  cap- 
hire  of  a  merchant-ship,  whereof  a  history  is  sent  to  John  Wilson 
Croker,  Esq. ;  should  have  been  so  backward  upon  this  particular 
occasion :  that  the  people  who  witnessed  the  anticipating  repre.- 


190  Letters  of  William  Uobbelt,  Esq. 

sentations  on  the  Serpentine  River,  and  who  are  so  eager  for 
news  from  America,  should  not  jet  have  been  officially  inform- 
ed of  the  battle  of  Lake  Chatnplain,  though  a  mention  of  it 
has  reached  Europe,  and  even  England,  in  the  president's 
speech.  The  world  will  naturally  ask  how  this  has  happen- 
ed. The  world,  sir,  looks  very  anxiously  towards  the  republic. 
They  see  in  her  a  power  rising  fast  to  a  rivalship  with  us.  They 
took  towards  her  with  rather  more  than  the  eyes  of  impartiality. 
Our  navy  has  excited  great  jealousy  and  envy  in  the  world.  That 
navy  the  world  wishes  to  see  matched,  or,  at  least,  held  in  check. 
This  is  not  at  all  wonderful;  but,  for  my  part,  1  shall  not  state 
what  I  look  upon  as  the  true  causes  of  it.  As  a  proof  of  the 
sentiments  prevalent  upon  this  subject  in  France,  I  here  quote  an 
article  from  a  French  paper  of  the  30th  of  September : 

"  On  the  situation  of  the  United  Slates. — The  capture  of 
Washington  has  made  a  great  deal  of  noise  in  Europe.  It  was 
generally  believed,  on  the  credit  of  the  London  newspapers,  that 
that  event  would  have  a  decisive  influence  on  the  war  which  rages 
between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States.  Already  people 
were  expecting  to  see  the  American  government  humbly  soliciting 
peace,  and  submitting  to  all  the  conditions  which  it  might  please 
the  cabinet  of  St.  James  to  impose  upon  it.  Some  persons,  who 
judge  of  the  United  Slates  from  the  old  nations  of  Europe,  confi- 
dently announce  the  dissolution  of  the  American  republic,  and  did 
not  conceive  what  could  exist  after  the  every  way  reprehensible 
destruction  of  the  capitol  and  other  buildings  of  Washington.  It 
seemed  to  them  that  that  rising  city  was  the  palladium  of  America, 
and  that  its  fall  must  draw  along  with  it  that  of  all  the  states  which 
compose  this  great  and  fine  confederation.  Profound  alarm,  it  was 
said,  had  seized  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  United  States ;  every 
province  was  hastening  to  deprecate  British  vengeance,  by  de- 
taching itself  from  the  federal  union  ;  Boston,  Philadelphia,  Balti- 
more, New- York,  Charleston,  Savannah,  were  on  the  point  of  open- 
ing their  gates  to  the  conqueror,  and  re-entering  the  colonial  sys- 
tem of  England.  The  better  informed,  however,  were  far  from, 
participating  in  this  opinion.  They  knew  that  the  great  majority 
of  the  Americans  were  attached  to  their  government,  and  would 
deem  no  effort  too  painful  to  support  their  independence.  There 
is  much  talk  of  the  parties  which  exist  in  the  United  States  ;  but 
these  parties  are  not  factious :  they  never  fail  to  unite  when  the 
country  is  in  danger.  In  America,  as  in  England,  men  dispute 
about  the  acquisition  of  power;  but  their  patriotism  is  neveu 
shaken.  Their  very  discussions  nourish  public  spirit,  and  elevate 
national  pride  and  the  sacred  love  of  liberty  above  every  other 
sentiment.  The  strength  of  the  United  States  is  not  in  the  mari- 
time towns ;  it  lies  in  that  numerous  population  who  cultivate  the 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Es'q.  191 

ground,  and  seek  subsistence  in  the  midst  of  forests.  These  hardy 
cultivators,  these  indefatigable  hunters,  form  excellent  troops,  easily 
disciplined,  and  who  brave  every  fatigue  and  danger.  They  are 
the  sons  of  men  who  triumphed  at  Saratoga  and  Bunker's  Hill. 
The  recollection  of  these  exploits  still  animates  their  courage. 
This  inheritance  of  glory  is  a  national  property  which  they  will 
transmit  entire  to  their  descendants.  These  hunters,  known  by 
the  name  of  riflemen,  are  formidable  enemies.  They  use  muskets 
of  a  particular  kind,  and  at  the  distance  of  two  hundred  paces  they 
seldom  miss  their  aim.  In  the  war  of  independence  they  did 
a  great  deal  of  mischief  to  the  English  armies,  and  deprived  them 
of  a  prodigious  number  of  officers.  It  appears  certain,  that  the 
expedition  of  the  Chesapeake,  under  admiral  Cochrane,  had  for  its 
object  to  force  the  American  government  to  recal  the  troops  which 
menaced  the  frontiers  of  Upper  and  Lower  Canada.  This  diver- 
sion would  have  been  advantageous  to  the  English  ;  but  it  did  not 
succeed.  While  the  efforts  of  the  British  army  expired  before 
Baltimore,  the  Americans  were  destroying  the  Englishjieet  on  Lake 
Champlain,  and  beating  the  army  of  Canada,  which  retired  with 
considerable  loss  in  men  and  stores.  On  this  occasion  we  have 
heard  mention,  for  the  first  time,  of  those  famous  militia  of  the 
state  of  Vermont,  who  so  gloriously  distinguished  themselves  in 
the  last  war,  under  the  name  of  Green  Mountain  Boys.  They 
have  lost  neither  their  courage  nor  their  renown.  The  defeat  of 
the  English  on  Lake  Champlain  exposes  the  frontiers  of  Lower 
Canada.  If  from  PlaUsburgh  the  Americans  proceeded  to  St. 
John's,  a  little  town  badly  fortified  at  the  head  of  the  lake,  they 
can  arrive  in  two  marches  on  the  banks  of  the  river  St.  Lawrence, 
opposite  Montreal,  and  make  themselves  masters  of  the  beautiful 
plain  of  Chambli,  the  most  abundant  of  all  Canada  in  pasturage 
and  grain.  It  is  not  on  the  coasts  that  the  fate  of  the  war  will  be 
decided,  but  in  the  interior  of  the  country,  and  on  the  banks  of 
Lake  Champlain  and  Ontario. 

The  English  are  good  soldiers ;  they  possess  both  honour  and 
courage  ;  but  the  war  they  have  undertaken  against  the  United 
States  does  not  depend  either  on  a  maritime  expedition,  or  on  a 
battle  gained.  Obliged  to  fight  at  a  great  distance  from  thek" 
country,  they  repair  with,  difficulty  their  losses,  either  in  men  or 
ammunition,  whilst  the  Americans  easily  recruit  themselves.  The 
expenses  of  England  are  enormous,  as  we  may  judge  from  the 
price  of  a  single  piece  of  cannon  transported  to  Lake  Ontario.  It 
is  estimated  to  have  cost  a  thousand  guineas.  The  British  minis- 
try thought,  no  doubt,  that  in  taking  the  advantage  of  their  maritime 
superiority,  to  insult  the  shores  of  the  United  States,  and  to  menace 
the  commercial  towns  with  complete  destruction,  they  would  have 
produced  in  that  country  a  powerful  opposition,  which  would  com- 


192  Ltliers  of  William  tobbett,  Esq. 

pel  the  American  government  to  sue  for  peace.     This  expectation 
insist  be  disappointed ;  it  shows  how  little  America  is  known   in 
Europe.      The  actual  government  does  not  want  the  support  of 
xvhat  is  called  ike  commercial  interest ;  it  derives   all    its  force 
from  the  frank  and  generous  adhesion  of  the  farmers,  who  are  the 
most  enlightened  men  in  the  United  States,  and  the  most  attached 
to  their  country.     Besides,  the  burning  of  Washington,  instead  of 
abating  their  courage,  has  only  tended  to  irritate  them  against  an 
enemy  who  tramples  on  the  principles  adopted  by  civilized  nations. 
Mr.  Madison,  who  enjoys  the  highest  honour  that  can  be  desired — 
that  of  presiding  over  the  destiny  of  a  free  people  ;  Mr.  Madison, 
I  say,  displays  a  noble  character.      All  Americans  rally  at  his 
voice;  and  resolutions,  full  of  energy  and  patriotism,  have  already 
been  adopted  in  the  greater  part  of  the  towns  which  are  most  ex- 
posed to  bombardment  and  to  Congreve's  rockets.     The  war  has 
become  national ;  and  the  Americans,  who  have  fought  courage- 
ously, will  henceforth  fight  with  fury.     It  is  not  very  difficult  to 
foresee  the  issue  of  this  sanguinary  contest,  too  long  maintained 
for  the  honour  of  humanity.     After  wasting  herself  in  vain  efforts, 
1'Jngland  will  be  forced  to  grant  peace  on  conditions  advantage- 
ous to  ike  United  Slates,  and  ought  to  think  herself  too  happy  in 
preserving  her  empire  over  Nova-Scotia  and  the  two  Canada*. 
I  expect  that  these  reflections,  intended  to  enlighten  the  numerous 
readers  of  the  Journal  de  Paris,  upon  a  war  more  important  than 
is  generally  supposed,  will  excite  the  indignation  of  the  English 
journalists.  Those  gentlemen  attribute  to  themselves  the  exclusive 
privilege  of  reasoning  upon  events,  and  they  are  indiscreet  enough 
to  consider  the   Americans  as  rebels  ;  but  this  consideration  will 
never  prevent  me  from  speaking   the  truth,  and   making  known 
freely  an  opinion  which  I  believe  to  be  just.    Nobody  esteems  the 
English  nation  more  than  I  do;  but  I  confess  I  should  be  much 
vexed  if  she  obtained  decisive  advantages- over  the  United  Stales. 
She  needs  neither  an  increase  of  influence   nor  an  accession  of 
territory.      Her  interest  imperiously  commands  her  to  respect  the 
rights  and  independence  of  other  people,  and  no  longer  to  weary 
fortune." 

This,  sir,  is  the  language  of  the  French  ;  these  are  their  sen- 
timents upon  this  war  against  the  American  republic.  She  has  a 
friend  in  every  people  in  Europe,  the  people  of  this  country  ex- 
cepted.  The  world  wishes  success  to  the  American  republic, 
because  the  world  envies  England  her  power.  The  result  of  the 
battle  of  Lake  Chatnplain  has,  perhaps,  caused  more  real  rejoicing 
than  ever  was  caused  by  any  battle  in  Europe  during  the  last 
twenly  years. 

In  your  speech  of  the  8th  instant,  an  account  of  which  I  have 
now   before  me,  the  newspapers  report  you  to   have  said,  that 
shnding  the  reverse  which  APPEARS  to  have   OC- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  193 

CURRED  on  Lake  Cfaamplain,  you  entertain  the  most  confident 
expectations)  as  well  from  the  amount  as  from  the  description  of 
force  now  serving  in  Canada,  (hat  the  ascendency  of  his  majesty's 
arms  throughout  that  part  of  North  America  will  be  effectually 
secured"  From  this  it  would  seem  that  the  "  reverse"1'  on  Lake 
Charnplain  is  not  yet  ascertained  by  your  cabinet;  that  it  only 
appears  that  there  has  been  a  "  reverse."1'  A  reverse  I  have  al- 
ways understood  to  mean  a  check  after  a  series  nf  victories. 
Whether  this  be  the  character  of  the  "occurrence"  in  question, 
i  must  leave  for  abler  judges  to  decide.  But  I  am  quite  rejoiced 
to  hear  that  you  entertain  such  "  confident  expectations"  of  seeing 
the  "ascendency"  of  his  majesty's  arms  "secured"  in  Canada; 
b^-ause  I  felt,  with  many  others,  some  fear  upon  this  score,  when 
I  t<  nd  that  an  army  of  fourteen  or  fifteen  thousand  men,  under 
the)  commander  in  chief  in  person,  had  retreated  in  haste,  and 
with  great  loss,  from  before  a  fortress  containing  five  or  six  thou- 
sand Americans.  The  republican  commander  asserts,  that  he 
captured  a  considerable  part  of  our  army,  having,  by  his  militia- 
and  volunteers,  pursued  it  a  considerable  distance  on  its  retreat. 
Unless  this  account  be  false,  there  appears  to  me  still  to  be  some 
little  room  for  fear  that  the-  ascendency  of  his  majesty's  arms  in 
that  quarter  will  not  be  maintained.  You  say,  as  the  newspapers 
teil  us,  that  you  build  your  confident  expectations  on  the  amount 
as  well  as  the  description  of  the  force  now  serving  in  Canada. 
But  this  force  is  exactly  the  same  that  appeared  before  the  fort 
at  Plattsburgh ;  it  is  not  changed  since  that  time  ;  nor  has  there 
been  any  change  in  the  force  of  the  enemy.  So  that,  to  me,  it 
does  not,  I  must  confess,  appear  at  all  likely,  that  the  prospect  in. 
Canada  should  brighten  before  another  campaign  has  made  some 
very  material  change  in  our  favour.  It  is  said  that  Sir  George 
Prevost  is  recalled.  If  that  could  give  us  an  advantage  over  the 
Yankees ;  if  that  could  defeat  their  triumphant  fleets,  the  mea- 
sure would  be  of  great  value. 

The  newspapers  state  that  you  spoke  of  "  the  brilliant  and 
successful  operations  in  the  Chesapeake  and  at  the  City  of  Wash- 
ington." Having  lately  had  the  misfortune  to  see  a  couple  of  my 
barns  on  fire.  I  can  the  better  conceive  the  brilliancy  of  the  scene 
at  Washington.  But,  sir,  while  this  scene  was  exhibited  there, 
unfortunately,  the  republicans  were  sally  ing  from  Fort  Erie  on  the 
army  of  General  Drurnmond,  and  the  fatal  battle  was  preparing  ou 
Lake  Chauiplain.  W  hat  are  the  operations  in  the  Chesapeake, 
when  we  look  towards  Canada  ?  If,  indeed,  we  had  been  able  to 
REMAIN  at  Washington,  the  case  would  have  been  different. 
So  far  from  that,  our  commander  stated  that  he  hastened  away, 
leaving  several  of  his  wounded  officers  behind  him,  because  he 
feared  that  the  militia  might  collect,  and  cut  off  his  retreat  to  the, 
ships.  Incursions  like  this  are  not  much  thought  of  in  the  world, 

25 


194  Ltllas  of  William  Cobbeit,  Esq. 

when  men  are  talking  of  the  probable  result  of  war.  It  is  true, 
(hat  fhe  charnder  of  our  movements  in  the  Chesapeake  "  has 
produced  on  the  minds  of  (he  inhabitants  a  deep  and  sensible 
impression."  But  if  I  am  to  judge  from  the  message  of  Mr.  Ma- 
dison, that  impression  is  one  of  the  most  resolute  hostility  towards 
England  ;  and  from  every  thing  Jhat  I  hear  from  that  country,  I 
am  convinced,  that  a  disposition  to  yield  to  us,  in  any  one  point, 
was  never  so  far  from  the  breasts  of  the  republicans  as  since  our 
operations  in  the  Chesapeake.  However,  we  shall  not  now  be 
many  days  before  we  KNOW  fora  certainty  what  the  American 
people  say,  and  what  they  think,  upon  the  subject  of  the  war. 
For  the  congress  will  go  into  committees  on  the  matters  mentioned 
in  the  President's  message.  Those  committees  will  make  reports 
expressive  of  their  opinions.  Those  reports  will  be  discussed  in 
the  senate  and  house  of  representatives.  When  agreed  to,  they 
will  be  published.  When  published,  they  will  express  the  senti- 
ments of  the  unboHght,  unsold  representatives  of  a  whole  people, 
those  representatives  being  chosen  by  the  free  voices  of  all  the 
men  in  the  country,  who  pay  taxes  to  the  amount  of  only  a  penny 
in  a  year.  There  can  be  no  room  for  doubt  in  such  a  case.  No 
man  can  pretend  to  say  that  the  congress  does  not  speak  the  voice 
of  the  people.  It  must  speak  the  people's  voice.  It  is  elected 
for  a  very  short  space  of  time.  The  people  have  the  power  to 
turn  out  any  member  in  a  few  months  after  he  displeases  them. 
All  the  people  read.  They  all  look  narrowly  to  the  conduct  of 
those  whom  they  have  sent  to  the  congress.  And,  therefore, 
whatever  the  congress  says,  we  may  be  well  assured  the  people 
themselves  say.  I  dwell  with  more  earnestness  upon  this  point, 
because  our  venal  prints  have  long  been  labouring  to  persuade  us 
that  the  American  people  are  opposed  to  their  government,  and 
because  you  are  reported  to  have  talked  of  the  war  begun  against 
us  by  "  the  government"  of  America.  The  government,  in  that 
country,  does  not  mean  any  man,  or  set  of  men,  who  rule  over  K 
people,  who  command  a  people,  to  whom  the  people  owe  alle- 
giance. The  people  of  America  acknowledge  the  existence  of 
no  such  a  power,  of  no  such  a  thing.  They  look  upon  the  go- 
vernment as  consisting  of  their  agents  ;  persons  appointed  and 
paid  by  them  for  conducting  their  public  affairs.  They  look 
upon  these  persons  as  no  more  than-  their  fellow  citizens.  The 
most  learned  and  most  wise  of  their  fellow  citizens,  to  be  sure  ;. 
but  still,  their  fellow  citizens.  The  persons  so  employed  have  not 
the  power  to  do  that  which  the  people  disapprove  of;  nor  can 
they  have  the  inclination,  seeing  that  they  have  no  interest  to  do 
that  which  the  people  dislike.  There  is  none  of  them  who  can 
have  any  private  interest  in  war ;  none  of  them  can  gain  by  war. 
It  is  impossible  to  fatten  their  families  by  the  means  of  a  public 
expenditure  ;  and  as  to  patronage,  they  know  of  no  such  thing. 


^ 

Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  195 

nor  could  they  derivfe  any  advantage  from  it  if  they  had  it. 
Therefore,  whatever  the  congress  says,  you  may  be  sure  the 
people  say,  in  spite  of  all  the  malicious  and  silly  assertions  of  our 
public  prints,  whose  efforts  are  continually  directed  to  mislead  the 
people  of  this  country,  whose  want  of  information  renders  them 
the  easy  dupes  of  these  designing  knaves,  having  a  corrupt  press 
hi  their  hands. 

It  is  stated  in  the  newspapers,  that  you,  in  your  speech,  said 
that  this  war  originated  in  the  «  MOST  UNPROVOKED  AG- 
GRESSION on  the  part  of  the  government  of  the  United  States." 
It  is  to  be  lamented  that  you  did  not  take  this  opportunity  of  con- 
tradicting, in  a  pointed  manner,  the  assertion  contained  in  Mr. 
Madison's  late  message ;  because  he  most  explicitly  asserts,  that 
we  were  the  aggressors.  He  says : 

"  Having  forborne  to  declare  war,  until,  to  other  aggressions,  had 
been  added  the  capture  of  nearly  one  thousand  American  vessels, 
and  the  impressment  of  thousands  of  seafaring  citizens,  and  until 
a  final  declaration  had  been  made  by  the  government  of  Great 
Britain,  that  her  hostile  orders  against  our  commerce  would  not  be 
revoued,  but  on  conditions  as  impossible  as  unjust  ;*  whilst  it  was 
known  that  these  orders  would  not  otherwise  cease  but  with  a  war 
which  had  lasted  nearly  twenty  years,  and  which,  according  to 
appearances  at  that  time,  might  last  as  many  more — having  mani- 
fested on  every  occasion,  arid  in  every  proper  mode,  a  sincere  de- 
sire to  meet  the  enemy  on  the  ground  of  justice,  our  resolution  to 
defend  our  beloved  country,  and  to  oppose  to  the  enemy's  perse- 
vering hostility  all  our  energy,  with  an  undiminished  disposition 
towards  peace  and  friendship  on  honourable  terms,  must  carry 
with  it  the  good  wishes  of  the  impartial  world,  and  the  best  hopes 
of  support  from  an  omnipotent  and  kind  Providence." 

Now,  sir,  what  I  could  have  wished  to  see  was  a  contradiction 
of  this  assertion,  with  regard  to  these  thousand  vessels,  and  these 
thousands  of  impressed  American  citizens.  You  may  be  well 
assured,  that  this  message  will  be  read  with  deep  and  general  in- 
terest on  the  continent  of  Europe.  This  message  and  your  speech 
are  before  the  world.  Not  before  this  nation  only,  but  before  all 
the  nations  in  the  world.  Every  man  will  form  his  own  judgment 
upon  them.  It  is  not  reasonable  to  suppose  that  Mr.  Madison's 
assertion  will  be  disbelieved,  unless  it  be  proved  to  be  false.  It 
may  do  here  for  our  public  prints  to  call  him,  as  they  do,  "  liar, 
fool,  traitor,  usurper,  coward,"  and  the  like.  This  may  suiisfy 
those  who  inhabit  tjie  country  through  which  runs  the  Serpeniine 
River ;  but  it  will  have  no  weight,  or,  at  least,  no  weight  against 
Mr.  Madison  in  other  countries.  His  assertion,  therefore,  rela- 
tive to  the  thousand  vessels,  and  the  thousands  of  impressed  sea- 
faring citizens.  I  could  wish  very  much  to  see  contradicted  and  dis- 
proved, in  some  official  and  authentic  way  ;  for  until  that  be  done, 


196  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

I  am  afraid  that  we  may  lay  our  account  with  his  being  believed  by 
a  great  majority  of  the  world.  And  if  he  be  believed ;  if  the 
world  do  believe  that  we  really  did  capture  a  thousand  republican 
vessels ;  that  we  really  did  impress  thousands  of  seafaring  citizens 
before  the  congress  declared  war,  I  am  afraid  that  it  must  be 
doubted  whether  the  declaration  of  war  was  wholly  an  unprovok- 
ed aggression  on  the  part  of  America.  I  am  aware  that  there  will 
be  no  doubt  upon  the  subject  in  this  country,  which  never  was  en- 
gaged in  a  war  so  popular  as  this.  I  believe  that  if  the  whole 
nation,  paupers  and  all,  were  put  to  the  vote,  that  there  would  ap- 
pear for  the  war  nine  hundred  and  ninety -nine  out  of  every  thou- 
sand. The  press  worked  up  the  people  to  the  war  pilch,  where 
it  keeps  them.  There  are  prevalent  these  notions  :  1st,  That  the 
republic  joined  Napoleon  in  the  war  against  us;  2d,  That  we  now 
are  able  to  punish  her  for  this ;  3d,  That  she  went  to  war  for  the 
purpose  of  robbing  us  of  maritime  rights  essential  to  our  very  ex- 
istence ;  4th,  That  she  may  MOW,  now,now  be  crippled  forever ;  5th, 
That  we  ought,  at  least,  to  continue  the  war  until  we  have  effaced, 
by  victories  over  the  republican  ships,  the  recollection  of  the  af- 
fairs of  the  Java,  the  Guerriere,  the  Macedonian,  the  Avon,  and  of 
those  on  the  lakes.  The  events  in  the  Chesapeake,  and  the  de- 
scription of  them,  have  caused  the  nation  to  look  upon  the  repub- 
licans as  cowards.  This  is  very  inconsistent  with  the  before-men- 
tioned notion ;  but  it  prevails.  So  that  here  are  all  sorts  of  ingre- 
dients necessary  to  make  a  war  popular,  and  popular  it  is  beyond 
every  thing  that  ever  was  popular.  It  is  quite  useless  for  any  one 
to  attempt  to  remove  any  of  these  notions,  which  have  taken  fast 
hold,  and  which  it  will  require  some  years  of  war  to  shake.  Jona- 
than) therefore,  has  no  ground  for  reliance  on  any  opposition  in 
this  country.  The  opposition  in  parliament  will  only  be  as  to  the 
mode  of  prosecuting  the  war.  If  they  censure,  the  burden  of  their 
censure  will  be,  not  against  the  war,  but  against  those  who  have 
not  done  enough  against  the  enemy.  The  war,  therefore,  has 
popularity  to  recommend  it.  This  I  allow,  and,  in  so  doing,  I 
have  the  mortification  to  confess,  that  all  my  labours  against  the 
war  have  proved  wholly  useless.  Still  I  think  myself  bound  to 
endeavour,  as  occasion  may  offer,  to  give  my  reasons  against  its 
further  continuance. 

I  was  happy  to  see,  in  the  newspaper  report  of  your  speech, 
that  you  have  "  a  sincere  desire  to  bring  this  war  to  a  conclusion 
on  just  and  honourable  terms ;"  and  as  Mr.  Madison  expresses  the 
same  desire,  let  me  hope  that  the  conclusion  of  the  war.  may  soon 
take  place,  without  waiting  till  more  sea  battles  have  effaced  the 
recollection  of  those  which  have  already  taken  place.  But,  sir, 
what  a  pity  it  is  that  the  war  did  not  end  with  the  war  in  Europe. 
What  a  pity  it  is  that  Mr.  Madison  has  to  complain  of  delays  on 
our  part  to  give  effect  to  our  own  proposition  for  a  direct  negotia- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  197 

tion,  after  we  had  refused  the  offer  of  the  mediation  of  our  own 
ally,  the  emperor  of  Russia  !  And  what  a  pity  it  is,  that  the  Ame- 
rican people  have,  in  our  public  prints,  seen  so  much  abuse  of 
their  chief  magistrate,  aiid  so  many  threats  to  reconquer  their 
country ! 

Since  writing  the  above,  the  debates  on  your  speech  have  reach- 
ed me.  With  the  exception  of  Mr.  Whitbread,  and  Sir  Gilbert 
Heathcote,  all  agreed  that  America  was  the  aggressor  in  the  war, 
and,  as  was  anticipated,  the  only  fault  imputed  to  the  ministers  was, 
that  they  ha4  been  remiss  in  their  measures  against  her ;  though, 
on  the  other  hand,  it  is  reported  of  one  member  who  moved  the 
address,  that  he  said,  that  "our  successes  against  her  had  been 
UNVARIED."  The  first  lord  of  the  admiralty  stated,  that  he 
had  not  received  the  official  account  of  the  affair  of  Lake  Champ- 
lain,  which,  besides,  appeared  from  the  language  of  the  two  houses 
to  be  considered  as  but  a  trifling  sort  of  a  thing,  unworthy  of  any 
very  particular  notice.  The  speech  of  Mr.  Whitbread  was  long, 
and,  therefore,  cannot  be  inserted  here ;  but  that  of  Sir  Gilbert 
Heathcote  shjll  have  a  place  in  this  letter;  and,  as  you  cannot 
suspect  him  of  any  disloyal  motive,  I  hope  you  will  give  his  words 
a  patient  attention. 

"  Sir  GILBERT  HEATHCOTE  rose  and  observed,  that  it  would 
have  been  most  satisfactory  to  have  heard  from  ministers  that  the 
negotiations  at  Ghent  were  going  on  favourably.  That  he  could 
not  approve  of  that  part  of  the  address  which  promised  further 
support  in  the  American  war,  inasmuch  as  the  cause  of  the  dispute 
had  ceased  since  the  general  pacification  on  the  continent.  When 
we  withdrew  our  Orders  in  Council,  the  Americans  had  rescinded 
their  relative  acts ;  so  that  the  right  of  searching  American  ships 
for  British  seamen  alone  remained  as  a  subject  of  controversy. 
When  peace  was  established  throughout  Europe,  we  could  not 
think  of  exercising  that  right ;  so  that  this  last  point  of  contention 
fell  to  the  ground  naturally.  The  war  must,  therefore,  be  carried 
on  for  other  reasons,  for  the  sake  of  what  might  happen,  and  not 
for  any  present  grievance.  He  thought  the  situation  of  the  coun- 
try did  not  warrant  ministers  in  doing  this.  Were  our  finances  so 
flourishing,  the  property  tax  a  burthen  so  light  and  easy  that  it 
mattered  not  what  might  be  the  amount  of  the  annual  national  ex- 
penditure ?  There  might  be  some  pretext  for  ministers  to  keep 
on  some  of  the  late  war  taxes,  after  the  country  was  placed  on  a 
peace  establishment,  provided  there  was  an  excess  of  expenditure, 
to  make  up  any  deficiency  in  balancing  the  accounts ;  but  no  pre- 
text whatever  for  retaining  such  imposts  for  the  prosecution  of  a 
war  which  appeared  unnecessary.  It  appeared  to  him  that  ne 
feared  the  rising  power  of  America,  and  wished  to  curtail  it.  This 
was  an  important  feature  in  this  war,  for,  if  persevered  in,  we  must 


198  Letters  of  William  Cobbdt,  Esq. 

he  prepared  to  completely  subjugate  our  enemy,  or  we  should  be 
in  a  worse  stale  than  we  non>  are. 

We  had  tried  to  subdue  America  thirty  years  ago,  and  had 
failed,  when  she  was  nothing  like  so  powerful  as  at  present.  We 
should  recollect  how  we  left  France  situated,  whilst  we  were  enga- 
ged in  this  contest ;  she  was  at  profound  peace,  recovering  from 
her  wounds,  and,  if  the  war  was  protracted  or  unprosperous,  she 
might  join  America,  or  attack  us  herself.  A  strange  policy  seems 
to  be  pursued  ;  whilst  we  were  waging  war  in  America  to  prevent 
her  becoming  a  powerful  naval  state,  close  at  home,  in  Flanders,  we 
were  creating  one.  Let  us  recall  to  mind  the  history  of  the  reign 
of  Charles  the  Second,  or,  in  latter  times,  the  politics  of  the  Dutch 
Cabinet  previous  to  Ihe  engagement  off  the  Dogger  Bank  in  1781, 
and  the  march  of  the  Prussian  army,  under  the  late  Duke  of  Bruns- 
wick, into  Holland,  in  1787.  Would  any,  one  having  a  knowledge 
of  these  transactions,  believe  that  our  ministers  would,  in  all  times 
to  come,  be  able  so  to  manage  the  Dutch  Cabinet,  as  to  eradicate 
all  French  influence  there,  as  that  power  we  are  now  creating  may 
not,  at  no  very  distant  time,  become  highly  dangerous  to  the  naval 
supremacy  of  this  country.  With  respect  to  the  conduct  of  the 
war,  he  did  not  wish  now  to  enter  into  it ;  he  was  against  the  war 
altogether.  In  these  contests  we  must  expect  the  alternate  vicissi- 
tudes of  fortune.  He  bad  always  understood  that  Sir  George 
Prevost  was  both  a  brave  and  intelligent  man,  and,  no  doubt,  he 
had  good  reasons  for  what  he  had  done.  That  in  a  country  like 
America,  after  having  lost  the  naval  support,  on  which  depended 
the  prov  isioning  the  army  and  conveyance  of  military  stores,  with 
the  remembrance  of  Saratoga  and  York-Town,  he  must  have  been 
a  hold  man  indeed  who  would  have  placed  himself,  by  advancing 
inlo  the  country,  in  a  situation  to  be  surrounded.  As  to  what 
was  said  in  the  public  prints  of  the  mortification  felt  by  the  troops 
which  had  been  sent  from  Spain,  he  believed,  if  more  confidence 
was  placed  in  their  exertions  than  on  those  of  the  rest  of  the  army, 
we  should  be  disappointed.  In  the  outset  of  the  last  American 
war,  it  was  boasted  here  that  a  battalion  of  British  troops  would 
march  across  the  continent.  The  flower  of  our  army  was  sent, 
and  commanded  by  officers  who  had  served  with  reputation  in  the 
German  war  under  Prince  Ferdinand.  The  result  is  well  known  ; 
these  troops,  as  brave  as  any  in  Ihe  world,  were  compelled,  at  two 
different  epochs,  to  lay  down  their  arms  to  the  new  raised  levies 
of  America.  He  was  against  the  continuance  of  the  nar." 

I  agree  with  Sir  Gilbert  Heathcote  in  every  word  thai  he  uttered. 
But  he  was  almost  alone.  He  had  but  one  member  with  him. 
Thus,  then,  we  are  to  go  on  with  this  war.  A  battle  is  to  be 
fought  now  between  the  whole  of  our  navy  and  army  and  those 
of  the  republic  of  America.  She  will  not  shy  the  fight.  She  is 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

ready  for  us.  The  world  is  now  going  to  witness  the  Jldl  of  the 
last  republic,  or  the  decline  of  the  naval  power  of  Kngland. 
There  will  be  no  medium  after  another  year  of  war.  We  must 
completely  subjugate  the  Americans;  or  openly  fall  before  them. 
We  must  beat  them ;  or  they  must  beat  us  ;  and  the  beating  must 
last  during  the  existence  of  the  parties. 

Mr.  Whitbread  asked  if  there  was  now  any  new  ground  of  the 
war.     Any  new  object*     Nobody  avowed  that  there  was.     But  I 
fear  the  Americans  will  bear  in  mind,  that  the  moment  Napoleon 
was  subdued,  and  our  alarms  in  Europe  were  at  an  end,  our  public 
prints,  the  most  patronised,  openly  proclaimed  to  the  nation  that 
the  object  now  ought  to  be  to  subdue  the  American  republic,  and 
to  bring  her  back  to  the  parent  state.     And.  which  is  never  to  be 
forgotten,  the  whole  of  the  London  prints,  in  giving  what  they  call 
a  report  of  the  debates  in   parliament,  published   a  report  of  a 
speech,  which  they  gave  as  Sir  Joseph  For/re's,  who  was  one  of 
the  lords  of  the  admiralty,  and  in  which  reported  speech  it  was 
slated  that,  though  Napoleon  was  deposed,   we  must  not  yet  lay 
aside  our  navy,  seeing  that  we  had"  another  person    to  depose, 
namely,  Mr.  Madison.     Far  be  it  from  me  to  assert  that  Sir  Joseph 
Yorfce  really  did  utter  this  speech :  but  it  is  very  certain  that  it 
was  published  as  his  speech  in  all  the  London  newspapers  ;  that  it 
was  so  received  all  over  the  kingdom;  and  that  its  sentiments  met 
with  universal  approbation.     The  language  of  the  principal  Lon- 
don prints  has  been,  from  that  day  to  this,   in  perfect  harmony 
with  the  tenor  of  this  speech  ;  and  when  the  news  of  the  burning 
of  the  buildings  of  the  city  of  Washington  arrived,  it  was  the  com- 
mon notion  that  a  viceroy  was  about   to  be  sent  thither  to  repre- 
sent and  govern  in  the  name  of  your  royal  father.     Nay,  I  verily 
believe  that,  if  the  war  ceases  without  our  reconquering  the  Ame- 
ricans, as  the  chances  are  that  it  may,  the  people  of  England  will 
be  utterly  astonished  and  confounded  !     So  that  JONATHAN  must 
stand  clear;  for  we  are  now  safely  launched  against  him.      It  is, 
in  my  opinion,  idle  to  expect  peace  with  America  in  a  less  space 
than  six  or  seven  years;  for  I  am  morally  certain  that  JONATHAN 
will  not  give  in.     He,  as  Lord  Melville  very  justly  observed,  is  at 
home;  he  has  all  his  men  and  tools  upon  the  spot;  he  has  been 
bred  to  the  rifle  from  his  cradle ;  he  has  a  cheap  government,  or, 
rather,  he  loves  to  govern  himself;  and  though  he  may  not  always 
feel  bold,  he  will,  first  and  last,  give  us  a  good,  long,  tough  battle, 
JONATHAN,  sir,  is  not  subject  to  fits  and  starts  in  his  politics  and 
notions  of  government.     We  found  no  rabble  at  the  city  of  Wash- 
ington, to  cry  "  vivent  nos  gencreux  allies,"  as  did  the  canaille 
at  Paris.      Men  must  submit  to  a  musket  or   bayonet  at  these 
breasts ;  but  we  shall,  I  am  of  opinion,   not  find  submission  go 
;mich  further  before  us  in  America. 


200  Letters  of  William  Cobbdt,  Esq. 

Mr.  JF  hit-bread  is  deceived  in  supposing  that  it  is  the  mere 
burning  of  the  buildings  at  Washington  which  has  united^  as  he 
calls  it,  all  parties  in  America.  There  never  was  any  party  our 
friend,  in  opposition  to  their  own  government;  all  parties  cried  out 
against  our  conduct.  All  parties  cried  out  against  what  Mr. 
Madison  complains  of  now.  And  as  to  a  separation  of  the  states 
for  our  sake,  no  one  but  a  downright  fool  ever  thought  of  such  a 
thing.  It  was  always  a  false  notion.  There  never  was  any 
ground  for  it ;  and  experience  will  show  us,  that,  in  this  respect, 
this  nation  has  been  listening  to  knaves,  who  were  seeking  their  own 
interests  in  urging  us  on  to  the  war. 

I  am  well  aware  that  we  shall  do  Jonathan  an  infinite  deal  of 
present  mischief.  And  he  seems  aware  of  it  too.  Mr.  Madison 
takes  great  pains  to  give  his  constituents  a  strong  sense  of  the 
violent  hostility  they  have  to  encounter.  They  are  now,  even  at 
this  moment,  getting  ready  their  powder  and  ball,  their  rifles  and 
their  swords,  their  haversacks  and  accoutrements.  There  will  not 
be  a  man  unarmed,  or  unprepared  for  battle,  before  the  opening 
of  the  next  campaign.  A  million  of  free  men  in  arms  will  be  ready 
to  receive  whoever  shall  march  against  them.  The  debates  in  our 
parliament,  the  language  of  our  newspapers,  which  Jonathan  knows 
so  well  how  to  estimate,  will  urge  him  on  to  measures  of  prepara- 
tion. He  is  expeditious  in  these  matters  beyond  all  nations  upon 
earth.  The  battle  will  be  a  battle  6t  to  engage  the  attention  of 
the  world.  I  have  often  been  rebuked  for  endeavouring  to  draw 
the  public  attention  to  American  affairs.  I  have  never  been  able 
to  persuade  any  body  that  America  was  of  any  consequence. 
She  has  now  become  of  consequence  ;  and  if  the  war  goes  on,  as 
I  fear  it  will,  she  will  soon  be  of  most  fearful  importance  in  the  view 
of  every  nation  in  Europe. 

Perhaps  you  do  not  know  that  the  present  injuries,  which  we  are 
able  to  inflict  on  America,  are  the  greatest  of  blessings  in  the  eyes 
of  some  of  her  statesmen.  They  have  always  wished  for  some- 
thing that  would  separate  her  as  widely  as  possible  from  Great 
Britain.  Whether  wisely  or  not  is  another  matter.  They  have 
always  wished  it;  and  if  they  can  see  this  accomplished  by  the 
destruction  of  twenty  or  thirty  towns  on  the  coast,  they  will  think 
the  acquisition  wonderfully  cheap. 

"  When  to  marry  or  to  fight,"  as  some  are,  "  both  parties  are 
equally  eager;  they  soon  come  together."  Both  parties  are  in 
earnest,  and  eager,  in  this  case;  and  they  will  soon  reach  one  ano- 
ther, though  the  distance  between  them  is  so  great.  The  battle 
will  be  a  famous  one.  A  great  kingdom,  the  mistress  of  the  sea, 
and  diclatress  of  Europe,  on  the  one  side;  and  the  last  of  repub- 
lics on  the  other.  Not  only  the  question  of  maritime  rights  is  now 
to  be  decided ;  but  the  question  of  the  nature  of  government?. 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  201 

The  world  is  now  going  to  see  whether  a  republic,  without  a 
standing  army,  with  half  a  dozen  frigates,  and  with  a  chief  magis- 
trate with  a  salary  of  about  Jive  thousand  pounds  a  year,  be  able 
to  r  ontend,  single-handed,  against  a  kingdom  with  a  thousand  ships 
of  war,  an  army  of  two  hundred  thousand  men,  and  with  a  royal  fami- 
ly whose  civil  list  amounts  to  more  than  a  million  pounds  a  year. 
Nothing  was  ever  so  interesting  as  this  spectacle.  May  the  end  be 
favourable  to  the  honour  and  happiness  of  this  country  and  man- 
kind in  general.  I  am,  &c.  &c. 

WM.  COBBETT. 


TO  A  CORRESPONDENT  IN  AMERICA, 

On  the  Expenses,  the  Taxes,  Src.  of  Great  Britain,  compared 
with  those  of  America. 

Dear  sir, 

YOUR  request  would,  long  ago,  have  been  attended  to,  if 
I  had  had  more  leisure  for  the  task.  For  your  valuable  informa- 
tion relative  to  your  agriculture,  your  flocks,  and  your  manufac- 
tures, I  am  much  obliged  to  you ;  and  if  the  two  countries  were 
at  peace,  you  should  receive  from  me  all  the  useful  information 
which  it  is  in  my  power  to  give  you  upon  several  heads,  which  I 
shall  not  touch  upon  in  a  letter  passing  through  the  press,  but 
which,  I  hope,  the  restoration  of  harmony  between  our  two 
countries  may,  in  a  year  or  two  at  most,  make  it  convenient  for 
me  to  communicate  to  you  through  the  ordinary  channel  of  the 
post. 

You  wish  to  know  what  is  the  amount  of  the  annual  expenses 
of  our  government ;  what  is  the  amount  of  the  taxes  paid  to  the 
government;  what  is  the  amount  of  our  poor  rates;  what  is  the 
amount  of  our  tythes ;  and  you  wish  me  to  show  the  comparison 
between  these  and  the  expenses  and  taxes  in  America.  You  also 
wish  to  have  my  account  of  the  state  of  the  people  here ;  or,  in 
plainer  terms,  you  wish  to  know  how  we  stand  as  to  mode  of 
living,  and  as  to  crimes  and  punishments,  compared  with  the 
people  of  your  republic. 

To  perform  this  task  as  it  ought  to  be  performed,  is,  I  am  afrai  J, 
beyond  my  power.  I  do.  indeed,  know  more  about  these  matters 
than  many  of  my  neighbours,  but  I  cannot  hope  to  discharge  the 
task  to  your  satisfaction,  who  are  so  accurate  in  all  your  state- 
ments and  calculations,  and  who,  with  all  your  indulgence  in 
other  respects,  are  not  to  be  satisfied,  unless  you  find  others  as 

26 


202  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

accurate  as  yourself.  Nevertheless,  I  will  do  all  that  I  am  ab?e 
to  do  in  return  for  the  very  valuable  information  which  I  owe 
solely  to  your  attentive  kindness,  and  which  serves  me  as  a  guide 
through  those  numerous  errors,  with  regard  to  your  country,  into 
which  I  see  others  of  my  countrymen  continually  falling. 

I  am  happy  that  you  have  not  called  upon  me  for  opinions  ; 
that  you  have  not  called  upon  me  for  conclusions,  drawn  from 
premises  that  I  am  to  state  ;  that  you  confine  your  request  to  an 
account  of  mere  facts  ;  that  you  have  not  wished  to  expose  ms 
to  the  mortification  of  seeing  the  effort  of  my  facts  destroyed,  or 
perverted,  by  the  superior  talents  of  those  who  might,  with  mer- 
ciless hands,  lay  foul  of  my  feeble  attempts  at  an  application  of 
these  facts  to  the  sustaining  of  any  political  theory.  It  is,  I  per- 
fectly agree  with  you,  the  best  and  fairest  way,  in  such  a  case,  to 
content  myself  with  bare  facts,  leaving  the  reader,  whether  public 
or  private,  to  draw  his  own  conclusions ;  because  the  points  of 
controversy,  if  any  arise,  can  be  at  once  decided  ;  and  because 
that  reader,  who  is  not  competent  to  draw  just  conclusions  from 
facts  clearly  stated,  is  not  worth  the  attention  of  the  writer, 
and  is  of  little  more  consequence  in  society  than  a  worm  or 
a  fly. 

In  speaking  of  the  EXPENSES  of  our  government,  I  must  confine 
myself  to  the  annual  expenses,  and,  in  this  case,  to  the  last 
year's  expenses ;  that  is  to  say,  the  year  which  ended  on  the  5th 
January,  1814.  As,  in  the  comparative  part  of  my  statement,  I 
must  speak  of  dollars  on  your  side,  and  of  pounds  sterling  on 
our  side,  I  will,  for  tire  sake  of  easier  assimilation,  take  the  dollar 
at  Jive  shillings,  instead  of  four  shillings  and  six  pence,  which  is 
its  real  sterling  value.  But  the  state  of  our  paper  currency  will 
fully  justify  this  advance;  and,  indeed,  it  would  justify  a  further 
advance.  This,  however,  is  not  material  enough  to  induce  me  to 
enter  into  any  laboured  calculations  on  the  subject ;  especially,  as 
it  is  contended  here,  by  a  great  majority  of  the  government 
financiers,  that  our  paper  money  has  undergone  no  depreciation 
at  all. 

To  begin,  then,  with  the  expenses  of  our  government :  In  Great 
Britain  only,  for  the  year  ending  on  the  5th  of  January,  1814, 
the  total  sum  expended  was  1  ia,968,610J.  16s.  10%d.  I  speak 
from  documents  laid  before  the  house  of  commons,  and,  therefore, 
I  run  no  risk  of  error  or  contradiction.  This  was  the  total  sum, 
exclusive  of  the  expenditure  belonging  to  Ireland.  To  go  into 
a  detail,  as  to  the  several  particulars,  would  fill  five  or  six 
numbers  of  my  REUISTER;  but  the  great  heads  of  the  expen- 
diture it  may  be  worth  your  while  to  know.  These  were  a» 
follow : 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  203 

CSiarges  on  account  of  the  national  debt  for  the  year,  £41,897,335  17    5  34 

Civil  list,  1,028,000     0    0 

Courts  of  justice   mint,  salaries  and  allowances,  bounties,  234,937  19    7  1-2 

Allowance  to  members  of  the  royal  family,  pensions,  Jkc.  332,412    741-4 

Civil  list  of  fcotland,  -  113,176    4     81-2 

Other  bounties  and  pensions,  and  militia  and  desci'ters' warrants,    391,456    1  11  1-2 
Navy,  .....  21,996,624    9    4  1-C 

Ordnance,  -  -  -  3,404,527  11   11 

Army,  .....  29,469,520  10     3 

Remittances  to  other  countries,  Hanover,  Austria,  Prussia,  and 

nine  other  powers,  -  15,994,832  14    1 

Miscellaneous  services  at  home  and  abroad,  -  4,010,349  18    41-2 


118,872,813  15     11-2 
Deduct  sums  for  Ireland,  8cc.  -  4,904,202  18    3 

Total  expenditure  of  Great  Britain,  -  -        £113,968,610  16  10  1-2 

Now,  as  to  the  comparison  between  the  expenditure  of  this 
government  and  of  jours,  I  must  speak  of  the  latest  period  of 
which  I  have  any  knowledge  of  your  expenditure  ;  and  though 
you  are  in  a  state  of  war  and  of  nnprecedented  expense,  you 
must  bear  in  mind  that  we  are  in  a  state  of  war  also.  I  find  an 
account  of  your  expenditure  in  Mr.  Madison's  speech  of  the  *20th 
of  September,  18 14,  which,  by  the  by,  many  persons  here  think 
will  be  his  last,  except  that  which  the  Times  newspaper  supposes 
he  will  make  at  his  exit  from  the  world.  Mr.  Madison  speaks 
thus  on  the  subject  of  your  finances :  "  The  moneys  received 
into  the  treasury  during  the  nine  months,  ending  the  30th  of  June 
last,  amounted  to  thirty  two  millions  of  dollars,  of  which  eleven 
millions  were  the  proceeds  of  the  public  revenue,  and  the  remain- 
der derived  from  loans.  The  disbursements  for  public  expen- 
ditures, during  the  same  period,  exceed  thirty-four  millions  of 
dollars,  and  left  in  the  treasury,  on  the  1st  of  July,  near  five 
millions  of  dollars." 

Taking  your  expenditure,  without  fractions,  then,  it  would  be, 
for  the  last  year,  $47,550,000,  while  ours  was  $455,874,443. 
So  that  our  expenditure,  exclusive  of  poor  rates,  tythes,  and  coun- 
ty and  corporation  government,  is  more  than  nine  times  aa  great 
as  yours.  The  population  of  the  two  countries,  leaving  out  our 
paupers,  is,  as  I  shall  show  by  and  by,  nearly  equal,  the  greater 
population  being,  however,  I  believe,  on  your  side.  The  pau- 
pers must  be  left  out,  as  you  will  perceive,  because  it  is  impossible 
that  they  can  contribute,  in  any  way  whatever,  towards  the  means 
of  meeting  this  expenditure. 

But  expenditure  is  of  little  importance  when  compared  to  receipts 
or  faxes.  Here  it  is  that  we  touch  close  upon  men's  pockets. 
The  means  of  expending  consists  in  part  of  loans.  These  loans 
may,  or  may  not,  ever  be  paid  off.  You  may,  perhaps,  pay  them 
off  by  lands;  we  may  pay  them  off  by  some  yet  unknown  means. 
What  we  have  to  look  at,  in  the  most  attentive  manner,  therefore, 


204  Letlers  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

is  the  amount  of  the  taxes  ;  because  this  is  what  the  people  really 
pay. 

The  amount  of  our  taxes,  paid  into  the  treasury  during  the  last 
year,  was  74,027,583J.  17s.  8|d.  We  are  very  precise  in  the 
keeping  of  our  accounts.  According  to  Mr.  Madison's  statement, 
in  his  speech,  the  money  paid  into  your  treasury,  during  the  last 
year,  was  $14,550,000.  In  dollars,  our  taxes  amounted  to 
296,1 10,33!> ;  which  is  rather  more  than  twenty  times  the  amount 
of  your  year's  taxes.  But  you  must  bear  in  mind  that  there  is  a 
considerable  difference  between  the  amount  collected,  and  the 
amount  paid  into  our  treasury. 

Amongst  other  deductions  from  this  latter  sum,  there  was  the 
aum  of  3,504,938/.  11s.  5d,  deducted  from  the  gross  receipt,  or 
collection,  for  the  purpose  of  paying  the  "charges  for  ma- 
nagement ;"  that  is  to  say,  for  the  purpose  of  paying  the  per- 
sons employed  in  the  assessing,  the  supervising,  the  surveying, 
the  inspecting,  the  collecting,  the  receiving,  the  transmitting,  £c. 
of  money  paid  into  the  treasury.  Now,  3,504,938/.  11*.  f>d.  is 
$  1 4,0 1 9,754.  So  that  the  bare  expense  of  the  getting  together  of 
our  taxes  amounts,  you  see,  to  very  nearly  as  much  as  the  whole 
of  your  taxes  raised  upon  you  ;  that  K  to  say,  if  Mr.  Madison's 
statement  be  correct.  And  suppose  each  of  these  persons,  one 
with  the  other,  to  receive  50J.  or  $200  a  year,  here  are  wages  for 
70,098  men  constantly  employed  in  the  business  of  the  taxes ; 
while,  suppose  you  to  pay  your  tax-gatherers  at  the  same  rate, 
you  have  only  2,504  persons  constantly  employed  in  this  way. 

The  poor  rates  form  another  item  of  English  taxation,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  above  ;  and  a  very  important  item  it  is  now  become. 
If  you  do  not  know  the  nature  of  this  tax,  and  of  its  application,  it 
may  be  necessary  to  state,  that  this  is  a  tax  levied  upon  all  house- 
holders and  landholders,  for  the  support  of  such  persons  as  are  too 
poor  to  support  themselves.  It  is  assessed  and  collected  by  per- 
sons appointed  by  the  taxed  people  in  each  parish,  called  overseers 
of  the  poor ;  but  before  they  can  proceed  to  collect  any  rate, 
they  must  have  the  approbation  of  a  justice  of  the  peace,  who  is, 
as  they  all  are,  appointed  by  the  crown.  In  the  distribution  of 
this  money,  the  overseers  are  again  liable  to  the  control  of  the 
justices  of  the  peace;  for  they  may,  upon  the  application  of  any 
pauper,  order,  without  appeal,  the  overseers  to  relieve  the  said 
pauper,  in  any  manner  that  they  please.  This,  therefore,  is  a  tax 
not  paid  into  the  treasury,  but  disposable  under  the  jurisdiction, 
and  at  the  discretion,  of  his  majesty's  justices  of  the  peace.  The 
office  of  overseer  is  performed  without  any  pay.  It  is  a  duty,  or 
service,  which  every  taxed  householder  is  liable  to  be  compelled 
to  execute. 

Now,  then,  as  to  the  amount  of  this  tax,  which,  you  will  observe, 
forms  an  addition  to  that  of  (he  taxes  already  noticed  ;  it  was,  in 
the  year  1U03,  when  the  report  was  laid  before  parliament, 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 


205 


5,348,205/.  For  the  last  year  I  have  only  computation  to  guide  ; 
but  that  assures  me,  that  the  nation  paid  in  poor  rates,  last  year, 
r,896,556/.,  or,  $31,536,224;  being  more  than  twice  the  amount 
of  all  the  taxes  which  you  paid  during  the  last  year,  if  Mr.  Madi- 
son's statement  be  correct.  But  that  I  may  not  expose  myself  to 
the  risk  of  being  charged  with  a  wrong  computation,  I  must  first 
state,  that  no  official  account  of  this  important  matter  has  been 
laid  before  parliament  since  1803;  and  that,  therefore,  I  am  forced 
to  resort  to  computation,  the  grounds  of  which  I  will  now  explicitly 
state.  I  have  the  means  of  coming  at  the  exact  amount  of  the 
poor  rates  in  Bishop's  Waltham  parish,  where  my  farm  lies,  for 
the  last  year.  This  is  a  parish  subject  to  no  fluctuation  of  pros- 
perity; it  has  no  manufactories  in  it;  it  has  a  small  country  town 
and  a  large  tract  of  arable,  meadow,  wood,  and  waste  land.  There- 
fore, I  may  very  fairly  take  the  increase  of  the  poor  rates  here  as 
a  criterion  of  the  increase  of  the  poor  rates  of  the  whole  country, 
especially  if  we  find,  from  the  official  reports,  that  the  poor  rates 
of  this  parish  had,  for  nearly  thirty  years,  up  to  1803,  kept  a  very 
nearly  exact  pace  with  the  poor  rates  of  the  whole  nation.  There 
were  three  different  periods  at  which  the  report  of  1803  took 
the  poor  rates  of  the  whole  nation,  and,  also,  the  poor  rates  of 
Bishop's  Walthain  parish ;  and  the  statement  was  as  follows,  ob- 
serving, however,  that,  as  to  poor  rates,  we  speak  of  only  Eng- 
land and  Wales,  Scotland  not  being  under  the  poor  laws. 


England  and  Wales.  .  Bishop's  Waltham. 

In  the  year  I  In  the  year 

1776, 


1776, 
1784, 
1803, 


£1,720,316 
2,l6r,749 
5,447,205 


1784, 
1803, 


£58 

670 

1,595 


It  is  quite  surprising  to  observe  how  exact  are  these  propor- 
tions ;  how  regularly  this  parish  kept  pace,  for  twenty  seven 
years,  with  the  whole  nation  in  the  increase  of  its  poor  rates.  But, 
in  order  to  leave  no  room  for  cavil  on  this  head,  the  subject  being 
one  of  the  utmost  importance,  we  will  proportion  this  parish  accord- 
ing to  its  population:  had  of  paupers,  in  1803,  there  being  no 
account  of  the  nation's  number  of  paupers  previous  to  1803,  and 
there  being  no  likelihood  that  we  shall  ever  see  another, 


England  and  Wales. 
Population,  •  8,872,980 

Paupers,  -  1,256,357 

exclusive  of  persons  in  alms  houses? 


Bishop's  Waltham. 
Population,  -  1773 

Paupers,  -  236 


Now,  if  you  multiply  the  paupers  by  sevm,  in  both  instances, 
you  will  find  that  they  amount  to  nearly  the  whole  of  the  popu- 
lation, making  it  appear  that,  in  1803,  there  were  nearlv  one  pauper 
to  every  seven  persons  in  the  parish  of  Bishop's  Waitham,  as 
well  as  throughout  England  and  Wales.  It  was  said,  incur  news- 


Letters  of  William  C'obbelt,  Esq. 

papers,  that  the  emperor  of  Russia,  and  the  king  of  Prussia,  ex- 
pressed their  surprise  at  seeing  wo  poor  people  in  England.  If 
this  was  true,  it  was  clear  that  their  majesties  did  not  look  in  the 
right  places.  We  now  come  to  the  result.  The  poor  rates  in 
Bishop's  Waltham  parish,  instead  of  the  l,59oZ.  to  which  they 
amounted  in  180.J,  amounted  last  year  to  2,355/.  18s.  6|d.  as  I 
know  from  the  poor  book  now  lying  before  me,  atid  of  which  sum 
I  myself  paid  more  than  100L  or  $'100.  If,  therefore,  this  crite- 
rion be  a  good  one,  and  such,  I  think,  it  cannot  be  denied  to  be; 
if,  in  1803,  Bishop's  YVallham  paid  1,595/.,  while  England  and 
Wales  paid  5,348,20j/.,  England  and  Wales  must,  last  year,  have 
paid  7,896,556/.,  seeing  that  Bishop's  Waltham  paid,  in  the  same 
year,  2,355/.,  throwing  aside  the  shillings,  pence,  and  farthings. 

I  return,  then,  to  my  former  statement,  that  the  poor  rates  alone 
of  England  and  Wales,  exclusive  of  Scotland,  (where,  however, 
there  is  something  paid  in  support  of  the  poor,)  amounts  to  more 
than  double  the  sum  which  was  last  year  (a  year  of  great  expense) 
paid  by  the  whole  of  the  population  of  America  into  the  treasury, 
in  taxes  of  all  sorts,  direct  and  indirect. 

Then  comes  another  question;  namely,  what  is  the  relative  po- 
pulation of  the  two  countries  ?  I  have  not  the  account  of  your 
last  census  at  hand.  I  think  it  made  your  total  population  amount 
to  between  seven  and  eight  millions.  At  this  lime  I  cannot  sup- 
pose it  to  be  less  than  eight  millions.  Take,  then,  the  5,348,2051. 
of  poor  rates,  in  1803,  observing  that  then  there  were  l,256,35f 
paupers,  and  you  will  Gnd  that  we  must  have  now  upwards  of 
1,1500,000  paupers,  provisions  being  at  this  time  as  cheap,  if  not 
cheaper,  than  they  were  in  1803.  Deduct,  therefore,  from  the 
8,872,980  (the  population  of  England  and  Wales)  the  1,800,000 
paupers,  and  then  there  are  left  to  pay  the  7,896,556/.  of  poor 
rates,  only  7,072,980  persons,  including  women  and  children. 

The  paying  population,  as  to  poor  rates,  is,  at  any  rate,  smaller 
lhan  the  population  of  your  republic;  and  the  sum  paid  exceeds, 
as  I  have  before  stated,  twice  the  amount  of  the  whole  of  the  taxes 
of  every  sort  which  you  paid  last  year  into  the  treasury  of  the 
United  States,  if  Mr.  Madison's  statement  be  correct. 

Turning  towards  another  view  of  this  interesting  subject,  we 
perceive  that,  if  we  exclude  the  paupers,  as  we  rationally  must, 
the  poor  rates  alone  amount  to  more  than  one  pound  sterling,  or 
four  dollars  a  head,  on  the  \vhole  of  the  population  of  England 
and  Wales.  Our  poor  rates  alone  amounted  to  this  on  the  whole 
of  our  population ;  while,  according  to  Mr.  Madison's  account, 
the  whole  of  the  taxes  of  every  sort  paid  into  the  treasury  of  the 
United  States,  do  not  amount  to  more  than  two  dollars  a  head  OH 
your  population,  even  supposing  your  population  to  be  now  little 
more  than  seven  millions. 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  207 

The  tythes  form  another  part  of  our  taxes.  I  do  not  mean  to 
speak  of  them,  as  some  most  loyal  men  do,  as  being  peculiarly 
odious  ;  or,  indeed,  as  being  odious  at  all,  either  in  their  nature,  or 
the  mode  of  their  collection,  in  which  latter  I  have  never  expe- 
rienced any  thing  severe  or  vexatious ;  nor  do  I  believe  that,  as  far 
as  the  clergy  are  the  owners  of  the  tythes,  (for  they  do  not  own 
more  than  about  the  half  of  them,)  their  rate,  or  collection,  is  often 
severe,  or  unfair,  or  even  troublesome.  Still,  however,  the  tythes 
which  Arthur  Young,  in  1792,  estimated  at  5,000,0007.  in  Eng- 
land and  Wales,  must  be  looked  upon  as  so  much  money  raised  upou 
the  land  ;  and  certainly  it  would  not  be  raised  if  there  were  no  esta- 
blished church,  no  state  religion.  In  short,  the  tythes,  as  far  as 
tjie  clergy  are  the  receivers,  must  be  looked  upon  as  so  much 
money  received  and  expended  by  the  government ;  so  much  mo- 
ney given  by  the  government  to  a  description  of  persons  eminent- 
ly calculated  to  repay  it  in  support.  Nevertheless,  I  will  not  in- 
clude the  tythes  among  the  taxes  of  the  nation.  Lord  Sheffield, 
indeed;  he  who  predicted  in  his  book,  published  in  1783,  that 
you  would  soon  wish  to  return  to  your  allegiance,  which,  as  he 
made  it  out,  would  be  found  necessary  to  your  very  existence  as 
a  people ;  that  same  Lord  Sheffield,  in  a  speech  to  a  meeting  of 
wool-growers,  lately  reckoned  tythes  among  the  causes  of  our  far- 
mers' being  unable  to  maintain  a  competition  with  those  of 
neighbouring  countries.  I  do  not  give  so  much  weight  to  tythes ; 
but,  still,  it  must  not  be  forgotten ;  and  when  a  report  to  the  house 
of  commons,  made  in  1H03,  states  the  whole  rental  of  the  kingdom 
of  Great  Britain  at  twenty-eight  millions,  you  will  perceive  that  if 
we  take  the  tythes  at  Mr.  Arthur  Young's  estimate,  of  1792,  the 
tythes  amount  to  more  than  a  sixth  of  the  whole  rental.  Indeed, 
they  must  amount  to  a  great  deal  more ;  because  the  tythe  con- 
sists of  a  tenth  of  the  whole  of  the  produce  of  a  farm  ;  and,  of 
course,  it  is  a  tenth  of  the  rent,  the  labour,  the  taxes,  the  capital, 
the  manure,  and  alt  other  outgoings ;  and  of  the  profits  into  the 
bargain.  So  that  the  tythes  of  the  produce  cannot,  I  should  sup- 
pose, be  less  than  a  fourth  of  the  rental ;  and,  of  course,  that  they 
amount  to  about  7,000,000/.  in  England  and  Wales,  at  this  time ; 
Scotland  paying  no  tythes.  But,  then,  it  must  be  observed,  that 
the  church  does  not  receive  more  than  the  half  of  this  sum.  The 
rest  is  the  property  of  lay-persons.  It  is,  in  fact,  private  proper- 
ty, and  is  sold,  or  rented,  as  other  private  property  is.  Upou 
the  subject  of  tythes,  therefore,  I  shall  not  enter  into  any 
comparison  between  your  country  and  ours.  All  the  world 
knows  that  you  have  no  tythes,  and  no  compulsory  payments,  on 
account  of  religion  of  any  description ;  all  the  world  knows  that 
the  Episcopalians,  the  Quakers,  the  Catholics,  the  Presbyterians, 
the  Baptists,  the  Lutherans,  the  Calvinists,  the  Moravians,  the 
Dunkards,  the  Swenfelders,  the  SeceHers,  the  Unitarians,  the 


205  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

Svvedenburgers,  and  many  other  descriptions  of  Christiana,  each 
condemning  the  opinions  of  all  the  others  ;  together  with  Jews  and 
Deists',  who  laugh  at  the  whole  of  them ;  have  their  assemblies 
in  your  country ;  and  that  any  one  of  them,  or  even  of  Atheists, 
may  become  your  president,  vice-president,  or  a  member  of  the 
congress,  without  any  question  being  asked  him  with  regard  to  his 
religion ;  while  it  is  equally  well  known,  that  no  man  can  be  a  ma- 
gistrate, or  fill  any  office  of  trust,  in  England,  unless  he  first  give  a 
test  of  his  being  a  member  of  the  established  church,  the  head  of 
which  church  is  the  king,  who  has  the  absolute  appointment  of  all 
the  bishops  and  deans,  and  of  the  greater  part  of  the  beneficed 
priests.  These  facts  being  merely  mentioned,  I  need  add  no- 
thing further  on  the  subject,  except  that  we  have  many  persons 
punished  in  England  for  publishing  works  on  the  subject  of  reli- 
gion, while  you  have  no  such  punishments;  and  we  have  recently 
seen  a  man  imprisoned  for  eighteen  months,  and  put  in  the  pillory, 
for  republishing  a  work  here  which  had  been  first  published  in 
your  country.  Which  system  is  best,  and  which  worst,  it  is  not 
my  present  object  to  inquire.  My  business,  upon  this  occasion, 
is  merely  to  state  facts  which  no  one  can  deny,  leaving  it  to  the 
reader  to  form  opinions  and  draw  conclusions. 

We  will  now,  then,  return  to  the  taxes,  which  we  will  take  in 
the  aggregate,  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic ;  and  then,  taking 
the  population  of  each  country,  we  shall  see  how  much  me  pay 
per  head,  and  how  much  you  pay  per  head.  There  must  be  a 
little  confusion  here,  in  our  part  of  the  statement,  because  we 
have  regular  poor  rates,  by  law,  in  England  and  Wales,  while 
Scotland  has  no  such  law,  though  there  are  collections  there  also 
for  the  support  of  the  poor.  This,  however,  cannot  be  accurately 
eome  at.  1  will,  therefore,  leave  it  wholly  out,  and  look  upon 
the  poor  rates  of  England  and  Wales  as  raised  upon  the  whole  of 
Great  Britain.  I  will  here  leave  out  the  shillings,  pence,  and 
farthings. 

GREVT  BRITAIN. 

Amount  of  taxes  paid  into  the  treasury,  -  £74,027,58.1 

Paid  to  the  tax-gatherers  for  collection  or  management,  3,504,938 

Amount  of  poor  taxes,  -  7,896,558 

Total,  £85,4<29,077 

or, 
£541,716,301 


But  now,  in  taking  the  aggregate  of  your  taxes,  you  will  see 
the  necessity  of  my  including  those  which  are  raised  upon  the 
people  in  the  several  states  for  the  support  of  the  several  state 
governments,  which  taxes,  of  course,  form  an  addition  to  the 
taxes  paid  to  the  general  government  of  the  United  States.  My 
materials  for  ascertaining  the  amount  of  these  state  taxes  is  not 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  209 

quite  so  perfect  as  I  could  wish.  Yet  I  have  means  to  do  it  to 
the  satisfaction  of  any  one  whose  object  is  that  of  arriving  at  truth. 
In  1 805,  Benjamin  Davies,  of  Philadelphia,  a  man  of  great  research 
and  of  great  accuracy,  published,  in  his  "  New  System  of  Geo- 
graphy," an  account  of  the  revenues  and  expenses  of  eight  of  the 
states  ;  correct  information  from  the  other  states,  on  this  head,  not 
being  apparently  at  his  command,  or  within  his  reach.  This, 
however,  is  quite  sufficient  for  our  purpose  ;  for  no  reasonable 
man  will  suppose  that  these  eight  states,  and  those  the  principal 
ones,  do  not  furnish  a  fair  criterion  whereon  to  found  an  estimate 
of  the  whole.  His  account  stands  as  follows,  in  dollars  and  cents, 
or  hundredths  of  a  dellar. 


Vermont, 

Massachusetts, 

Connecticut, 

New-York, 

New -Jersey, 

Pennsylvania, 

Maryland, 

Virginia, 

South-Carolina, 


Taxes  per  head  on  the  popu 
TAXES.  (ation  of  the  state. 

Dollars.  *  Cents. 

10,800  -  12 

116,000  -  31 

19,584  -  7 

Rich  in  public  funds,  &c. 

27,000  -  12 

397,863  76 

53,000  .  16 

377,703  -  43 

70,000  -  35 


8)«13 

Average,        526  5-8 




It  appears  from  Benjamin  Davies'  account,  that  these  taxes,  or, 
rather,  these  resources,  arise,  in  many  cases,  from  the  interest  of 
stock,  of  which. the  states  are  the  owners,  and  which  make  part 
of  the  public  debt  in  America.  In  other  cases,  they  arise  from 
the  sale  of  lands  belonging  to  the  states.  He  represents  New- 
York  state  to  be  owner  of  2,000,000  of  dollars  in  stock,  and  to 
hold  numerous  shares  in  canals,  £c.  &c.  But  1  shall  suppose 
that  the  whole  of  this  sum  is  raised  in  taxes  upon  the  people,  and 
paid  out  of  their  pockets.  It  will  then  come  to  this,  that  each 
inhabitant  of  the  American  republic  pays,  in  this  way,  and  on 
this  account,  26  5-8  cents,  or  hundredths  of  a  dollar. 

You  have  also,  in  the  great  towns,  some  poor  to  assist.  I  am 
quite  in  the  dark  upon  this  head,  except  as  far  as  observation  of 
some  years  ago  can  guide  me.  Tltis  item,  therefore,  I  will  take 
at  a  guess  ;  and,  if  I  allow  that  the  poor  cost  nearly  as  much  as 
the  state  governments,  ijo  one  on  this  side  of  the  water,  at  any 
rate,  can  complain  of  the  estimate.  I  therefore  take  the  state 
taxes,  including  poor  taxes,  at  50  cents,  or  half  a  dollar  a  head, 
upon  the  whole  of  your  population.  I  know  (hat  you  will  say 
that  this  is  a  monstrous  over-rate  as  to  your  poor  taxes.  But  I 

sm  resolved  not  to  be  complained  of  on  the  other  side..    As  to 

07 


210  Betters  of  William  Calbdt,  Esq. 

road  rales,  turnpikes,  watching  and  lighting,  and  paving  and 
watering,  of  cities  and  ton-ns,  J  do  not  notice  these  in  either 
country,  seeing  that  they  are  for  the  immediate  benefit  of  those  who 
pay  them. 

We  will  now  return  to  our  comparison  between  the  distribution, 
per  head,  of  our  taxes  and  of  yours. 

Our  year's  taxes,  including  poor  taxes,  we  find  amounting,  to 
341,716,308  dollars.  Our  population  in  Great  Britain,  in  1803, 
was  as  follows : 

England  and  Wales,  .....  8,872,980 

Scotland,                   -  ...  1,607,760 

Army  and  navy,  -                              .    -                -  469,188 

Convicts  in  the  hulfcs,  -  1,410 

•  Total,      10,951,338 

Deduct  army  and  navy,  *  -  469,188 

10,482,150 
Deduct  convicts  on  board  the  hulka,      -  1,410 


10,480,740 
Deduct  paupers,  1,800,000 

8,680,740 


I  make  no  deduction  for  prisoners  in  our  jails,  whether  for 
crimes  or  debts ;  though,  as  I  shall,  with  sorrow,  have  to  state, 
by  and  by,  these  are  worthy  of  very  serious  notice,  even  in  the 
comparative  view  which  we  are  now  making,  i  suppose  that  I 
shall  not  be  contradicted  when  I  say,  that  it  is  impossible,  upon 
any  rational  ground,  to  include  soldiers,  sailors,  convicts,  and 
paupers,  amongst  the  payers  of  taxes  ;  and  that,  therefore,  the 
deiiuctions  which  I  have  made  will  be  allowed  to  be  necessary  to 
the  correctness  of  the  comparison,  But  to  get  rid  of  the  chance 
of  a  cavil  being  raised  ;  to  put  it  out  of  the  power  of  any  human 
being  to  object  to  my  basis,  I  will  distribute  our  taxes  amongst 
the  whole  of  the  population,  and  will  even  take  that  population  at 
its  amount  previous  to  the  enormous  emigration  of  natives,  and 
re-emigration  of  foreigners,  which  the  peace  on  the  continent  of 
Europe  has  produced.  Taking  the  whole  of  the  population  of 
G:eit  Britain,  therefore,  at  10,951,338,  it  appears  that,  for  each 
person,  old  and  young,  male  and  female,  there  were  taxes  paid, 
last  year,  to  the  amount  of  thirty-one  dollars  and  twenty  cents  ; 
(throwing  away  a  fraction ;)  or,  in  sterling  money  of  England, 
71.  16s.  This,  you  will  observe,  is  for  every  soul,  whether  pau- 
per, soldier,  sailor,  debtor,  convict,  or  other  criminal, 

On  your  side  I  will  take  the  population,  of  every  description, 
at  only  7,500,000,  though  it  is  notoriously  much  more.  Your 
United  States'  taxes,  last  year,  amounted  to  $14,550.000,  which* 


Letters  of  William  tiobbdt,  Esq.  21 1 

distributed  amongst  your  7,500,000  people,  imposes  upon  each 
a  little  less  than  $2;  and  if  we  add  the  taxes  of  the  state 
governments,  and  the  largely  estimated  poor  taxes  as  above, 
e^ch  person  in  your  republic  paid  last  year,  including  every  spe- 
cies of  tax,  the  sum  of  $2  50,  or  12s.  6d.  of  our  money,  while,  as 
we  have  just  seen,  there  was  paid  in  Great  Britain,  for  every  soul, 
including  soldiers,  sailors,  paupers,  debtors,  convicts  and  criminals 
in  prison,  the  sum  of  $31  20  ;  or  77.  6s.  of  our  money. 

Really  (for  I  must  break  out  a  little  here)  Mr.  Madison  does 
appear  to  have  boasted  betimes  of  the  fortitude  of  your  people ; 
of  the  cheerfulness  with  which  they  bear  the  burdens  which  the 
war  imposes  on  them  ;  of  their  giving  the  taxes,  direct  and  indi- 
rect, with  promptness  and  alacrity  !  Let  him,  before  he  talks  in 
this  way,  put  the  people  into  our  state  of  trial.  Let  him  try  the 
whole  population,  man,  woman,  and  child,  pauper,  soldier,  sailors 
debtor,  convict  and  criminal  prisoner,  with  thirty-one  dollars  and 
twenty  cents  each,  instead  of  two  paltry  dollars  and  a  half;  and  then, 
let  him  talk,,  if  he  likes,  of  their  fortitude  and  patriotisms  Our 
lords  and  gentlemen,  in  our  honourable  houses,  talk,  indeed,  with, 
good  grounds,  of  our  unexampled  patience,  under  our  burdens. 
This  compliment,  which  parliaments  in  former  times  seldom  be- 
stowed on  our  and  your  forefathers,  and  which,  to  acknowledge 
the  truth,  they  as  seldom  merited,  is  fully  due  to  us.  But,  really, 
Mr.  Madison  has  begun  a  little  too  soon  to  compliment  his  fellow- 
citizens  on  their  quality  of  bearing  burdens.  Their  twelve-and- 
sixpenny  patience  will  be  thought  very  little  of  on  this  side  of 
the  water,  where  we  bear,  taking  paupers,  soldiers,  and  all,  eleven 
times  as  much  without  even  a  whisper  in  the  way  of  complatnt. 
There  was,  indeed,  a  few  years  ago,  a  rnan  by  the  name  of  Cartor* 
in  Staffordshire,  who  published  an  article  which  was  understood 
to  contain  a  censure  on  his  majesty's  commissioners  of  property 
tax  in  that  county  ;  but  he  was  soon  led  to  feel  sorrow  for  his  con- 
duct; and,  since  that,  the  country  has  not  been  disgraced  by  one 
single  soul  found  to  follow  the  evil  example,  or  to  be  in  the  like 
case  offending.  Mr.  Madison  says,  that  his  fellow  citizens  will 
proudly  bear  their  burdens.  But  can  they  bear  them  so  proudly 
as  we  have  borne,  and  still  bear,  ours  ?  Has  he  heard  of  the  bon- 
fires, the  ringing  of  bells,  the  roasting  of  sheep  and  of  oxen,  the 
feasts,  the  balls,  and  the  singing  parties,  which  took  place  whilst 
the  kings,  cur  friends  in  the  war,  were  here  last  summer  ?  Has 
he  heard  of  the  joy  at  the  sight  of  the  exhibition  in  the  Green 
Park,  and  that  of  the  sham  naval  fight  on  the  Serpentine  River^ 
which  formed  so  apt  a  representation  of  Lake  Charnplain  and 
its  outlet  ?  Mr.  Madison  must  come  hither  (and  the  Times  news- 
paper expects  to  have  him  here)  before  he  can  form  the  most  dis- 
tant idea  of  the  extent  and  value  of  our  patience  and  loyalty.  The 
sum  which  one  good  farm  pays  here,  in  the  various  kinds  of  taxei»4 


212  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

would,  if  attempted  to  be  collected  in  America,  set  a  whole  town- 
ship, if  not  a  whole  county,  of  your  grudging  republicans  in  muti- 
ny ;  and  compel  the  magistrate  to  call  out  the  horse  soldiers,  if 
there  were  any  at  his  command.  Let  us  hear  no  more,  therefore, 
of  Mr.  Madison's  twelve-and-sixpenny  patience.  Let  us  hear  no 
more  of  his  boasts  of  the  fortitude  of  his  republicans,  until  their 
fortitude  makes  somewhat  of  a  nearer  approach  towards  ours. 

If  you  will  excuse  this  digression,  into  which,  you  will,  confess, 
I  was  so  naturally  led,  not  to  say  dragged,  I  will  now  return  to 
iny  statement  of  facts,  proceeding  next  to  a  view  of  the  crimes  and 
punishments  in  this  country. 

As  to  our  criminal  code,  you,  who  are  a  lawyer,  know  full  as 
much  about  it  as  I  do,  except  as  far  as  relates  to  the  experience  in 
cases  of  libel.  It  is  merely  of  the  number  and  description  of 
crimes  and  punishments  that  I  am  now  about  to  speak  :  and,  as  in 
other  cases,  I  shall  not  "deal  in  vague  surmises  or  general  observa- 
tions, but  appeal  to  authentic  reports,  and  build  my  statements 
on  the  unerring  rules  of  arithmetic.  Sir  Samuel  Romilly,  who  has 
for  many  years  been  labouring  to  effect  a  softening  of  our  criminal 
code,  caused,  in  the  year  1811,  an  account  to  be  laid  before  par- 
liament of  the  crimes  and  punishments,  as  far  as  they  came  before 
the  judges,  for  several  years  preceding.  Owing  to  some  cause, 
with  which  I  am  not  acquainted,  the  account  came  no  lower  down 
than  the  year  1309;  and  it  extended  no  further  than  England  and 
Wales,  leaving  out  Scotland,  where,  as  I  am  told,  there  are  in  fact 
but  very  few  crimes  and  punishments,  though  the  sheriffs  and 
other  officers  of  justice  in  that  country  are  pretty  expensive,  and 
arejpaid  but  of  what  is  called  the  civil  list.  The  summary  of  the 
account,  of  which  I  have  spoken  above,  is  as  follows  : 

Persons. 
Committed  for  trial,  .  .  .  2721 

Convicted,                  .......  1573 

Sentenced  to  suffer  death,               .           .           .  372 

•          to  be  transported,                      .                                   .  401 

i                 to  be  imprisoned,  whipped,  fined,  &c.             .            .  800 

Actually  put  to  death,                      .                       ...  57 

Beside  these,  you  will  observe,  there  are  all  the  persons  who 
were  tried  at  the  quarter  sessions  in  the  several  counties  ;  that  is 
to  say,  the  sessions  held  by  the  justices  of  the  peace,  four  times  in 
every  year,  where  as  many  of  the  justices  as  choose  to  attend  form 
the  court,  having  one  of  their  own  body  for  chairman.  At  these 
sessions  the  offences  of  a  less  heinous  nature  are  examined  into  and 
punished.  But  the  justices  can  sentence  to  imprisonment,  whip- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. .  213 

piftg,fine,  and,  I  believe,  they  can  transport.  This  is  the  great 
court  tor  the  trial  of  persons  charged  with  thefts  of  an  inferior  or- 
der;  and,  I  should  suppose,  that  the  number  of  criminals  brought 
before  these  courts  is  twice  as  great  as  that  of  the  criminals  who 
are  reserved  for  trial  before  the  judges,  who  go  into  some  counties 
but  once  in  the  year,  and  into  none,  except.  Middlesex,  more  than 
twice ;  whereas,  the  court  of  quarter  sessions  is  held  every  three 
months.  However,  as  I  cannot  speak  here  from  any  authentic 
document,  I  shall  leave  this  as  a  thing  whereon  for  you  to  exercise 
your  judgment. 

As  to  any  comparison  on  this  point,  between  our  country  and 
yours,  I  am  wholly  destitute  of  any  authentic  document,  relative 
to  America,  touching  crimes  and  punishments.  I  can,  however, 
speak  as  far  as  my  own  observation  went.  I  lived  in  Philadelphia 
about  eight  years,  with  every  disposition  to  find  fault  with  every 
thing  fhat  I  saw,  or  heard  of,  that  was  amiss.  During  that  time, 
I  never  heard  of  any  person,  except  in  one  instance,  being  tried 
for  his  or  her  life ;  I  never  heard  of  a  murder,  a  highway  robbery, 
or  of  a  house  being  broken  open  ;  I  never  heard  of  an  execution 
of  death  on  any  person,  except  (the  instance  above  alluded  to)  of 
three  men  hanged,  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware,  for  piracy  and 
murder;  these  men  were  foreigners;  and  such  was  the  horror  of 
an  execution,  even  in  such  a  case,  that  the  executioner  was 
obliged  to  be  disguised  in  such  a  way  that  it  was  impossible  that 
any  one  should  recognise  either  his  person  or  features,  being 
brought  to  the  spot  in  a  carriage,  under  an  escort  of  constables, 
and  taken  away  in  a  similar  manner,  so  as  to  make  it  almost  im- 
possible for  him  to  become  publicly  known.  Philadelphia,  at  the 
time  I  speak  of,  contained  about  70,000  inhabitants. 

It  is,  as  I  observed  before,  impossible  to  come  at  any  exact  state- 
ment on  this  subject,  in  the  way  of  comparison  ;  but  a  few  facts, 
notorious  on  the  two  sides  of  the  water  respectively,  will  serve  to 
aid  you  greatly  in  forming  your  opinions  as  to  this  matter.  Here 
we  have  laws  to  guard  our  turnip  fields  froq|  robbery,  and  very 
necessary  they  are  ;  for  without  them  there  is  no  man  in  any  part  of 
the  country  who  could  depend  on  having  the  use  of  his  crop  even 
of  that  coarse  and  bulky  article.  To  steal  corn  out  of  a  field  af- 
ter it  is  cut,  is  punished  with  death  by  our  laws;  and  if  we  had 
fields  of  Indian  corn,  as  you  have,  which  is  a  delightful  food  for 
several  weeks  before  it  is  ripe,  I  cannot  form  an  idea  of  the  means 
that  would  be  necessary  to  preserve  it  from  being  carried  away. 
As  to  poultry,  no  man  in  England  has  the  smallest  expectation  of 
being  able  ever  to  taste  what  he  raises,  except  he  carefully  locks 
it  up  in  the  night,  and  has  dogs  to  guard  the  approaches  to  the 
hen-roost.  In  America,  at  within  ten  or  twelve  miles  of  Philadel- 
phia, it  is  a  common  practice  of  the  farmers  to  turn  the  flocks  of 
turkeys  into  the  woods  in  the  latter  end  of  August ;  there  to  re- 


214  «  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

main  until  towards  winter,  when  they  return  half  fat.  A  farmer 
in  England  would  nomore  think  of  doing  this  than  he  would  think  of 
depositing  his  purse  in  any  of  the  public  foot-paths  across  his 
fields.  In  order  to  preserve  their  fences,  the  farmers  sometimes 
resort  to  this  experiment:  they  bore  holes  into  the  stoutest  of  the 
stakes,  which  sustain  their  hedges ;  put  gunpowder  into  those 
holes  ;  then  drive  in  a  piece  of  wood  very  tigh-tly  upon  the  pow- 
der; so  that  the  stolen  hedge,  in  place  of  performing  its  office  of 
boiling  the  kettie,  dashes  it,  and  all  around  it,  to  pieces.  This 
mode  of  preserving  fences  I  first  beard  of  at  Alresford,  a  town 
about  twelve  miles  distance  from  Botley  ;  and  though  it  certainly 
does  appear,  at  first  sight,  a  very  cruel  one,  what  is  a  man  to  do  * 
The  thieves  are  so  expert  as  to  set  detection  at  defiance;  and 
there  is  nothing  but  his  fences  between  him  and  ruin.  I  have 
known  a  man  who  assured  me,  that,-  by  the  stealing  of  hisjjedge 
in  the  month  of  March,  and  letting  into  his  wheat  land  the  flocks 
from  the  commons,  he  lost  more  than  300Z.  in  one  night  and  part  of 
the  ensuing  day.  A  few  weeks  ago  I  myself  had  afire,  by  which 
I  lost  a  couple  of  barns,  and  some  other  buildings.  At  this  fire  a 
numerous  crowd  was  assembled,  many  of  whom  came  for  the  pur- 
pose of  rendering  assistance  ;  but  one  man  was  detected,  while  the 
fire  was  yet  raging,  stealing  the,  lead  and  iron  work  of  a  pump, 
fulfilling  the  old  saying,  that  nothing  is  too  hot  or  too  heavy  for  a 
thief;  and  it  required  the  utmost  of  my  resolution  and  exertion, 
aided  by  three  sons,  and  a  half  a  dozen  resolute  and  faithful  ser- 
vants, to  preserve,  during  the  night*  and  next  day,  (which  was 
Sunday,)  the  imperishable  and  portable  part  of  the  property  from, 
being  carried  away.  I  will  just  add  upon  this  subject,  as  an  in- 
stance of  the  baseness  of  our  press,  that  the  Times  newspaper 
published,  upon  this  occasion,  a  paragraph,  stating  that  I  had  most 
ungratefully  driven  away  "  the  honest  rustics"  who  had  kindly 
come  to  my  assistance.  It  is  very  true  that  I  did  drive  the 
"  honest  rustics"  away;  but  I  succeeded  in  putting  a  stop  to  their 
thefts,  which  would|  I  verily  believe,  have  been  nearly  as  inju- 
rious as  the  fire.  Since  the  fire  happened  upon  my  premises,  a 
gentleman,  who  had  a  similar  accident  some  few  years  ago,  has 
assured  me,  that  almost  every  article  of  iron  was  stoleri  from  his 
premises.  It  is  notorious  that,  in  London,  the  thieving  forms  a 
very  considerable  part  of  every  such  calamity.  But  the  thing  which 
better  than  any  other  bespeaks  the  nature  of  our  situation,  in  this 
respect,  is  the  exhibition  of  notices  on  the  top  of  garden  walls,  and 
of  other  fences,  menacing  those  'who  enter  with  the  danger  of 
death  from  man  traps  and  spring  guns.  Peter  Pindar  has  im- 
mortalized these  by  introducing  them  into  a  poem,  where  he  ludi- 
crously represents  the  king  as  intent  upon  "  catching  his  living 
subjects  by  the  legs."  But  be  must  have  well  known,  that,  with- 
out them,  neither  king  nor  subject  could  possess  the  produce  of  a 


Letters  of  William  Cobbcll,  Esq.  215 

garden.     Sometimes  the  traps  themselves  are  hoisted  up  upon  a 
sort  of  gibbet,  in  the  day  time,  in  order  to  inspire  greater  terror  ; 
and  it  is  only  a  few  months  ago  that  we  had  an  account  of  a  man 
being  actually  killed  by  a  spring  gun,  in  a  nocturnal  expedition  in 
a  garden  at  Mitcham.      Beside  these,  we  are  infested  by  gangs  of 
itinerant  thieves,  called  gypsies.     The  life  of  these  people  very 
much  resembles  th^at  of  the  savages  whom  I  have  seen  on  the  bor- 
ders of  the  river  St.  Jo/in,  in  New-Biunswick;  except  that  the 
latter  gain  their  food  by  hunting  and  fishing,  and  the  former  by 
theft.     The  gypsies  have  r.o  settled  home ;  no  house,  or  hut,  or 
place  of  dwelling.      They  have  asses,  which  carry  Ihernselves, 
their  children,  their  kettle,  and  their  means  of  erecting  tenis,  and 
which  tents  are  precisely  like  those  of  the  North  American  sa- 
vages.    The  nights  they  employ  in  thieving.     Sheep,  pigs,  poul- 
try, corn,  roots,  fruit;  nothing  comes  amiss  to  them.     What  they 
steal  in  one  place,  they  spena  in  another ;  and  thus  they  proceed 
all  over  the  country.     They  commit  acts  of  murder,  and  theft, 
und  arson,  innumerable.     The  members  of  this  moving  community 
are  frequently  hanged,  or  transported ;  but  still  the  troops  of  vaga- 
bonds exist;  and,  as  far  as  I  am  able  to  judge,  are  as  numerous  as 
they  were  when  I  was  a  boy..     But  still  the  great  evil,  in  this  view 
of  the  subject,  is  the  want  of  honesty  in  the  labouring  class,  to  what- 
soever cause  that  evil  is  to  be  ascribed.     Those  writers  on  rural 
affairs,  who  have  urged  the  employing  of  threshing  machines  for 
corn,  have  counted,  amongst  the  greatest  of  their  advantages,  that 
they  protected  the  farmer  against  the  thefts  of  the  thresher.     Va- 
rious are  the  ways  in  which  corn  is  stolen  by  those  who  thresh  it ; 
but  I  will  content  myself  with  one,  the  information  with  regard  to 
which  I  derived  from  a  respectable   neighbour.     He  perceived 
that  his  thresher  brought  a  large  rvooden  bottle  with  him  to  work 
every  day.     Being  winter  time,  he    could    not    conceive  what 
should    make    the    man  so   very   thirsty.        He  watched  him : 
never  saw  him  drink.    At  last  he  accosted  him  in  his  way  home, 
and  after  some  altercation,  insisted  upon  examining  the  bottle,  which 
he  found  to  be  full  of  wheat.     Thus  was  this  man  taking  away  three 
gallons  of  wheat  every  week,  which,  at  that  time,  was  not  worth 
ihan  six  shillings.     It  was  this,  I  believe,  and  this  alone,  which 
made  my  neighbour  resolve  to  use  a  threshing  machine. 

Such  is  by  no  means  an  overcharged  view  of  our  situation  in 
this  respect.  Of  the  causes  which  have  led  to  it  I  shall  not  speak ; 
indeed,  I  do  not  know  that  I  am  competent.  That  it  is  not  owing 
to  a  want  of  penal  laivs  is  very  certain.  I  am  unable  to  say  whe- 
ther your  country,  at  this  time,  be  better  or  worse  situated  as  to 
this  matter.  At  any  rate,  I  shall  enable  you  to  make  the  com- 
parison ;  and  as  such  comparisons,  if  clearly  and  candidly  made, 
might  be  of  great  use  to  the  people  of  both  countries,  I  think  it  is 
not  too  much  for  me  to  hope  that  you,  in  the  public  manner  of 


216  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

which  I  am  giving  you  an  example,  will  communicate  the  compa- 
rison to  me.  But,  if  you  can  do  it,  let  us  have  authentic  docu- 
ments. It  would  be  perfectly  easy  to  obtain  a  year's  account  of 
all  the  commitments,  convictions,  and  sentences  in  your  republic. 
I  should  not  fear  executing  such  a  task  with  an  expense  of  twenty 
dollars ;  and,  as  the  execution  of  it  would  give  to  the  world  a  piece 
of  the  most  interesting  and  most  valuable  information,  I  will  not 
fear  that  you,  who  have  all  the  means  in  your  hands,  will  decline 
to  undertake  it.  If  you  do  undertake  it,  I  know  that  you  will 
execute  it  with  a  strict  adherence  to  truth;  and,  if  so  executed, 
it  must  be  productive  of  great  good.  Both  countries  must  profit 
from  it,  especially  if  peace  should  happily  be  restored  between 
them. 

As  to  the  mode  of  living  in  this  country,  compared  to  the 
mode  of  living  in  your  republic,  I  ^nnot  in  this  letter  enter  in- 
to the  inquiry,  which  would  take  up  more  room  than  I  have  at 
present,  and  also  much  more  time.  It  is,  however,  a  most  inte- 
resting subject ;  because  it  speaks,  at  once,  to  the  great  object  for 
which  civil  society  was  framed  ;  namely,  the  happiness  of  the  peo- 
ple. Even  now,  however,  I  cannot  refrain  from  giving  you  a  no- 
tion of  the  manner  in  which  our  labourers  live.  I  am,  strange  as 
it  may  seem,  enabled  to  appeal  to  parliamentary  authority  here 
also.  There  is  now  before  me  a  report  of  a  committee  of  the 
house  of  commons  on  the  subject  of  the  corn  laws. "  This  commit- 
tee report  the  evidence  of  certain  persons  examined  by  them  ; 
and,  amongst  the  rest,  of  a  great  landholder  in  Wiltshire,  named 
Bennett,  who,  upon  being  asked  how  much  a  labourer  and  his  fa- 
mily ought  to  have  to  live  upon,  answered  :  "  We  calculate  that 
every  person  in  a  labourer's  family  should  have,  per  week,  the 
prir.e  of  a  gallon  loaf,  and  threepence  over  for feeding  and  clothing, 
exclusive  of  house  rent,  sickness,  and  casual  Expenses."  This 
report  was  ordered  by  the  house  of  commons  to  be  printed,  on 
the  26th  of  July  last. 

Now,  "  a  gallon  loaf "  weighs,  according  to  law,  8lb.  lOoz. 
avoirdupois  weight.  This  is  the  allotment  for  seven  days  for  one 
person;  but,  then  as  you  will  perceive,  Mr.  Bennett  and  his 
neighbours  allow  threepence,  or  five  cents  a  week  more,  or 
suppose  a  cent  per  day  more,  for  feeding  and  clothing.  The 
particulars  of  the  feeding  and  clothing  that  can  be  had  for  three 
pence  per  week,  or  thirteen  shillings  a  year,  it  would,  perhaps, 
be  difficult  to  ascertain,  without  immediate  application  to  Mr. 
Bennett ;  and  as  that  is  out  of  my  power,  I  must  leave,  these  par- 
ticulars to  be  come  at  by  your  powers  of  divination;  adding,  how- 
ever, that  as  far  as  my  observation  has  reached,  Mr.  Bennett's  ac- 
count appears  to  have  been  tolerably  correct.  I  am,  with  sincere 
esteem,  }?our  friend,  WM.  COBBETT. 

Kotley,  England,  November  15, 1814, 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  217 


STATE  OF  THE  NATION. 

Jir>  Cobbett, 

So,  sir,  there  is  sad  news  from  America !  We  are  not 
merely  repulsed  with  loss  and  slaughter,  by  a  set  of  ragamuffins 
without  red  coats  ;  but  we  also  lose  our  brave,  our  gallant,  our  hu- 
mane, and  generous  officers.  As  to  the  common  men  being  killed, 
that  is  nothing  ;  they  are  only  numbered,  not  named  ;  whereas  our 
officers  are  always  the  very  best  of  their  species  ;  so  that  the  Ame- 
ricans, in  shooting  them,  are  guilty  of  great  presumption,  beside 
downright  murder,  and  a  most  grievous  loss  it  is  to  Britain.  The 
shooting  a  few  more  of  our  officers,  by  those  plaguy  smock-frock- 
ed  riflemen,  may  also  prove  a  material  protraction  to  our  recolo- 
nizing  the  continent  of  America.  I  should,  therefore,  be  of  opi- 
nion, that  our  officers  ought  to  disguise  themselves  as  they  did  du- 
ring the  last  war  ;  for  these  impudent  riflemen  are  so  accustomed 
to  shoot  their  wild  turkey $  flying,  that  it  will  be  impossible  for  a 
single  officer  to  escape,  if  they  once  recognise  him. 

This  consideration  alone  is  sufficient  to  compel  the  ministry  to 
leave  America  unconquered,  and  patch  up  a  peace  ;  unless,  indeed, 
our  interest  in  the  now  sitting  congress  of  the  legitimate  proprie- 
tors of  the  human  race,  be  so  great  as  to  cause  it  to  be  enacted, 
that,  henceforward,  in  warfare,  it  shall  be  against  the  law  of  nations 
to  Ore  at,  wound,  or  slay,  any  officer  bearing  his  Britannic  majesty's 
commission.      But  while  we  thus  complain  of  the  passing  events 
abroad,  let  us  endeavour  to  remedy  some  of  the  abuses  at  home. 
It  is  an  undeniable  fact,  that  we  groan  under  an  immense  load  of 
taxes,  which  scarcely  leave  to  the  many  the  means  of  procuring 
the  necessaries  of  life.     We  exhibit  to  the  astonished  world  the 
spectacle  of  a  free  nation,  paying  double  the  sum  in  taxes  of  any 
other  country,  under  the  most  arbitrary  and  despotic  government, 
and  our  protecting  parliament  loads  free-born  Britons  with  heavier 
burthens  than  all  the  ukases  of  an  autocrat  imposes  on  the  servile 
Russian.     Yet  a  very  great  proportion  of  these  taxes  go  towards 
the  support  of  those  who  govern  ;  and  without  entering  at  present 
into  a  disquisition  as  to  the  mode  or  profusion  in  which  the  mem- 
bers of,  and  adherents  to,  government  are  paid,  we  must  insist 
that  a  certain  indispensable  duty  attaches  to  them  in  return  for  the 
large  salaries  they  receive  from  the  public,  and  that  to  the  public 
they  are  amenable,  who,  at  the  same  time,  are  competent  to  judge 
whether  that  indispensable  duty  be   neglected  or  inadequately 
performed. 

With  the  public  also  a  power  to  remove,  or  punish,  exists ; 
and,  therefore,  all  endeavours  to  recall  such  servants  back  to  their 

28 


2J3  Letters  of  William  Cobbetl,  Esq. 

duty,  and  all  inflictions  of  punishment  for  a  departure  therefrooT, 
are  not  only  strictly  justifiable  and  highly  laudable,  but,  in  fact., 
Ihe  bounded  duty  of  each  individual  towards  his  country.  Every 
such  individual  would  himself  depart  from  the  line  of  justice,  and 
become  a  traitor,  were  he,  from  self  interested  motives,  tamely 
to  submit  to  flagrant  abuses  in  the  government,  and  suffer  them  to 
be  handed  down  to  posterity.  This  rule  fairly  laid  down,  it  be- 
hooves us  to  make  a  strict  inquiry  into  our  present  ruinous  state, 
and  to  scrutinize  the  measures  which  have  brought  us  into  it. 
Next,  let  us  examine  whether  the  constitutional  axiom,  that  the 
king  can  do  no  wrong1,  extends  to  his  cabinet,  or  even  to  parlia- 
ment. Then,  whether  a  nation  is  bound  to  sit  down  contented 
wilh  its  wrongs,  because  a  white-washing  bill,  brought  in  by  mem- 
bers of  such  cabinet,  may  have  been  passed  by  a  parliament,  many 
of  whose  members,  if  not  principals,  have  been  accessaries  to  the 
abuses  in  favour  of  which  the  indemnity  bill  was  required — a  par- 
liament, who  may  already  have  passed  bills  encroaching  upon 
those  liberties  they  had  sworn  to  defend — a  parliament,  where  it 
is  probable  placemen  and  pensioners  abounded,  and  where  such 
may  have  had  the  traitorous  insolence  to  advocate  corruption. 

To  begin  with  our  present  situation :  After  a  twenty  years 
murderous,  and  every  way  ruinous,  war,  we  are  at  peace,  for  the 
moment,  with  the  continent  of  Europe,  but  we  are  still  plunged  in 
a  savage  and  destructive  hostility  with  America.  During  our 
twenty  years  continental  war,  much  blood  has  been  shed,  while, 
excepting  a  few  individuals,  who,  by  contracts  and  commissions, 
have  amassed  fortunes,  general  ruin  has  ensued,  an  immense  na- 
tional  debt  has  accumulated,  and  all  our  gold  has  left  the  country, 
The  concomitants  of  this  are,  a  stagnation  of  trade,  a  rivalship  of 
our  manufactures,  an  impossibility  of  paying  taxes;  an  enormous 
increase  of  paupers,  and  a  ruinous  paper  currency.  But  peace, 
it  was  expected,  would  have  restored  our  commerce  and  diminish- 
ed our  taxes.  Instead  of  which,  more  taxes  will  be  wanted,  in 
whatever  shape  they  may  be  imposed,  to  bring  up  the  arrears  of 
the  war  expenditure ;  and,  in  order  to  engage  the  people  to  pay 
further  demands  without  murmuring,  the  contest  with  America  is 
kept  up;  while  peace  with  France,  instead  of  augmenting  the  peo- 
ple's resources,  has  only  furnished  the  superior  classes,  and  in- 
deed all  those  above  daily  labour,  with  an  opportunity  of  emigra- 
ting, and  retiring  from  this  land  of  taxes,  to  various  parts  of  the 
continent,  where  they  may  live,  not  only  reasonably,  but  peace- 
ably, without  the  hourly  dread  of  being  murdered  in  their  houses 
by  disbanded  soldiers  and  sailors. 

These  marauders,  however,  having  been  taught  the  trade  of 
murder  and  plunder,  we  ought  to  bear  no  hatred  against  them,  if, 
when  we  no  longer  want  their  gallant  aid,  they,  as  their  only 
means  of  subsistence,  set  up  for  themselves,  and  practise  indivi- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq.  219 

dually  such  acts  as  they  performed  collectively,  and  upon  which  our 
highest  praises  have  been  bestowed.  Peace,  instead  of  augment- 
ing the  people's  resources,  is  now  opening  their  eves,  is  now  bring- 
ing them  to  their  senses  ;  they  find  that  ail  Europe  has  now  rival- 
led us  in  our  manufactures,  or  prohibits  their  introduction  ;  and, 
while  this  takes  place  abroad,  they  experience  at  home,  in  the 
price  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  that  forestalling  and  monopoly  have 
seized  on  every  article ;  while  the  waste  lands,  instead  of  being 
given  to  the  poor,  have  been  universally  appropriated  to  the  rich, 
and  the  quantity  of  land  thereby  thrown  into  cultivation,  instead  of 
having  the  effect  of  lowering  its  price,  has  only  encouraged  the 
landholders  to  rack-rent  their  tenants. 

Thus,  then,  the  industrious  part  of  the  community,  owing  to  the 
heavy  taxes,  the  decay  of  trade,  and  the  existing  monopoly,  have 
no  alternative  at  home  but  starvation  as  a  rewarcf  for  their  labour  ; 
a  work  house  as  a  retreat,  if  disabled  by  sickness  or  age  ;  and  the 
gallows,  if  they  dare  practise,  in  retail,  what  their  superiors  are 
guilty  of  in  wholesale.  They  enjoy  not  even  the  privilege  of  the 
spaniel,  who  has  the  liberty  of  yelping  when  ill  treated  ;  if  a  man 
complains,  he  is  instantly  deemed  seditious,  and  punished  for  his 
temerity.  In  my  next  I  shall  endeavour  to  point  out  a  radical 
cure  for  these  evils. 

ARlSTJDJiS, 


AMERICAN  WAU. 

THE  Times  newspaper,  which  was  one  of  the  loudest  clamour- 
era  for  this  war,  now  observes,  "  with  deep  regret,  that  it  has 
lingered  on  for  so  many  months  without  being  distinguished  by 
any  memorable  stroke."  If  the  inflammatory  and  malicious  writer 
of  that  paper  already  experiences  disappointment,  what  vrill  he 
experience  during  the  months,  yea,  and,  perhaps,  the  years  of  this 
war,  which  are  yet  to  come  ?  He,  wheu  urging  on  the  nation  to 
this  enterprise,  told  them,  with  the  utmost  confidence,  that  in  a 
Jew  weeks  after  war  should  be  commenced,  "  the  boasted  American 
navy  would  be  annihilated."  Not  only  has  that  navy  not  been 
annihilated,  but  it  has  very  much  increased.  It  has  annihilated 
some  hundreds  of  our  merchant  ships,  and  has  defeated  several 
of  our  ships  of  war,  some  of  which,  after  victory  over  them, 
gained  in  the  most  wonderful  manner,  it  has  added  to  its  own 
number.  It  is  said,  that  we  are  building  ships  to  carry  64  guns, 
for  the  express  purpose  of  combating  the  American  frigates. 
Ours,  it  seems,  are  to  be  called  frigates  also.  This  is  to  avoid 
the  awkwardness  of  acknowledging  that  our  frigates  are  not  able  to 
cope  with  American  frigates.  ISow,  if  it  sU>uld  happen  thai  one 


220  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

of  these  new  "frigates"  of  ours  is  beaten  and  captured  by  an 
American  frigate,  what  will  then  be  said  ?  For  my  part,  were  U; 
with  ine  to  carry  on  the  war,  I  would,  after  what  has  passed,  re- 
sort to  no  such  perilous  expedient  as  this,  but  would,  at  once, 
send  ships  of  the  line  against  those  formidable  frigates,  without 
making  any  apology  for  so  doing.  Before  the  war  began,  not  a 
word  were  we  told  about  the  frigates.  The  editors  of  the  Times 
and  the  Courier  were  only  impatient  that  these  frigates  should 
meet  ours  upon  the  sea.  They  said  nothing  about  their  stout 
decks,  and  their  heavy  cannon,  and  their  "  great  big  balls." 
But  the  moment  that  the  Americans  beat  and  captured  one  of  our 
frigates  with  one  of  theire,  then  we  heard  these  editors,  and  eren 
the  "  undaunted  sons  of  Neptune,"  garbed  in  blue  and  gold,  ex- 
claiming against  the  size  of  the  American  frigates,  and  the  number 
of  their  crews  !  We  should  have  thought  of  all  this  before  we 
talked  of  annihilating  the  American  navy  in  a  few  weeks.  The 
merchants  and  underwriters  are  now  petitioning  the  lords  of  the 
admiralty  and  the  Prince  Regent  to  protect  them  more  effectually 
against  this  "  contemptible  American  navy,"  which,  it  seems, 
has  already  destroyed  their  property  to  the  amount  of  millions, 
and  some  of  the  ships  of  which  are  said  to  blockade,  in  some 
sort,  part  of  our  harbours  in  England  and  Ireland,  and  are  cap- 
turing our  ships  within  the  sight  of  land.  These  gentlemen  should 
have  petitioned  against  the  war*  So  far  from  that,  many  of  them 
were  eager  for  the  war  ;  ^nd  do  they  think  that  they  are  to  enjoy 
the  gratification  of  seeing  the  American  towns  knocked  down, 
without  paying  some  little  matter  for  it?  That  the  admiralty  are 
employing  a  great  many  ships  and  sailors  in  this  war,  our  next 
year's  taxes  and  loans  will  fully  convince  us ;  but  numerous  as 
their  ships  and  sailors  are,  they  are  not,  and  cannot  be,  sufficient 
to  rover  all  the  ocean. 

The  farmers,  and  landholders,  and  fundholders,  are  sighing 
for  the  repeal  of  taxes  ;  but  how  are  they  justified  in  this  wish, 
when  it  is  well  known  that,  to  carry  on  the  war,  taxes  are  abso- 
lutely necessary  ;  and  when  it  is  also  well  known  that  those  per- 
sons were,  in  general,  anxious  for  the  war  ?  Some  of  them  want 
war  to  prevent  their  produce  from  falling  in  price ;  others  liked 
peace  with  France  well  enough  ;  but,  then,  they  wished  "  to  give 
the  Yankees  a  drubbing."  Therefore,  if,  to  keep  up  the  price 
of  produce,  and  to  give  the  Yankees  a  drubbing,  taxes  are  want- 
ed, with  what  decency  can  these  persons  expect  that  taxes  will 
be  taken  off?  Do  we  obtain  any  thing  that  we  want  without  pay- 
ing for  it,  in  some  way  or  other  ?  If  we  want  food,  or  raiment,  or 
houses,  or  pleasure,  do  we  not  expect  to  pay  for  them  ?  Can  we 
go  to  see  a  play  or  a  puppet-show  without  money?  Why,  then, 
are  \ve  to  expect  to  see  the  greater  pleasure  of  seeing  the  Yankees 
drubbed,  without  paying  for  that  too  ?  The  public  seein  very 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  '22\ 

impatient  to  see  the  drubbing  begin.  The  Times  and  the  Courier 
have  been  endeavouring  to  entertain  them  for  a  long  while,  and 
until  they,  aa  well  as  the  audience,  appear  exhausted.  But  is  it 
not  reasonable  that  the  public  should,  in  this  case,  as  well  as  in 
all  others,  put  down  their  money  previously  to  the  drawing  up  of 
the  curtain  ?  In  a  year  or  two,  perhaps,  we  shall  see  the  drama 
commence  in  good  earnest.  But  is  it  not  enough  to  be  amused 
with  a  little  dancing  and  tumbling  on  the  outside  before  we  have 
paid  our  money  ?  *'  Send  !  send  away,"  says  the  eager  editor  of 
the  Times,  "send  away  a  force  to  crush  them  at  once !"  But 
not  a  word  does  he  say  about  the  taxes  necessary  to  pay  for  the 
sending  and  keeping  up  of  such  a  force. 

Our  government  is  composed  of  wonderfully  clever  men ;  but 
they  are  not  clever  enough  to  make  soldiers  walk  upon  the  waters 
over  the  Atlantic,  nor  to  enact,  at  a  word,  loaves  arid  fishes  to 
sustain  them  after  their  arrival.  To  be  able  to  send  that  "over- 
whelming force,"  of  which  the  Times  speaks,  the  government 
must  have  money  ;  and,  as  in  all  other  cases,  they  must  have 
the  money  jirst.  In  short,  it  is  unreasonable  in  the  extreme  to 
expect  the  war  in  America  to  be  attended  with  any  very  signal 
result,  until  we  have  liberally  paid  two  or  three  years  of  taxes. 
The  assertion  is  again  made,  that  the  American  ships  are  manned 
principally  with  English,  Irish,  and  Scotch.  I  find  this  assertion 
in  the  Morning  Chronicle  of  the  6th  instant.  If  this  were  true, 
as  I  hope  it  is  not,  what  a  pleasant  and  honourable  fact  this  war 
would  have  brought  to  light?  No  other  than  this  :  that  many  of 
our  seamen,  our  "gallant  tars,"  the  "  undaunted  sons  of  Neptune," 
not  only  have  no  dislike  to  the  Americans,  but  actually  have  run 
the  risk  of  being  hanged,  drawn  and  quartered,  for  the  sake  of 
fighting  in  the  American  service  against  their  own  country  ! 

If  the  world  believe  these  accounts,  what  must  the  world  think 
of  us  ?  During  the  long  war  in  which  France  was  engaged,  no 
Frenchmen  were  ever  found  in  arms  against  their  king  and  coun- 
try. Some  of  them,  indeed,  embodied  themselves  under  foreign 
banners  to  fight,  as  they  pretended,  at  least,  for  their  country, 
and  against  those  whom  they  called  the  usurpers  of  its  govern- 
ment. But,  if  these  accounts  be  true,  our  countrymen  have  volun- 
tarily gone  into  the  American  service  to  fight  against  their  coun- 
try, that  country  being  under  the  legitimate  sway  of  the  glorious 
and  beloved  house  of  Brunswick  !  The  origin  of  these  accounts, 
so  disgraceful  to  the  country,  is,  probably,  the  reluctance  which 
our  naval  officers  have  to  confess  defeat  at  the  hands  of  those 
Yankees  whom  we  were  so  desirous  to  see  drubbed.  To  avoid 
this  painful  acknowledgment,  it  has  been  asserted,  that  we  have 
not  been  beaten  by  the  Yankees,  but  by  our  own  brave  country- 
men. But  here,  again,  a  difficulty  arises  :  for  how  comes  it  to 
pass  that  our  own  brave  countrymen  have  more  success  on  board 


222  Letters  of  William  CobbeH,  Esy. 

• 

Yankee  ships  than  on  board  of  our  own  heart  of  oak  ?  How  cornea 
it  to  pass  thai,  (he  men  on  both  sides  being  precisely  of  the  same 
race  and  education,  those  in  the  Yankee  ships  should  beat  those 
in  "  the  wooden  walls  of  Old  England  ?"  It  has  been  observed, 
that  they  fight  more  desperately,  knowing  that  they  fight  with  a 
halter  about  their  necks.  What  an  aspersion  on  "  the  sons  of 
Neptune!"  As  if  the  sons  of  Neptune,  the  gallant  jack  tars  of 
Old  England,  wanted  a  halter  around  their  necks,  and  the  gallows 
and  executioner's  knife  before  their  eyes,  to  make  them  do  more 
in  battle  than  they  are  ready  to  do  for  the  sake  of  their  king  and 
country,  and  from  a  sentiment  of  honour  !  This  is,  really,  giving 
a  cruel  stab  to  the  character  of  our  sailors ;  but  such  is  the  sorry 
malignity  of  those  who  publish  these  accounts  of  treasonable  prac- 
tices, &at  they  entirely  overlook  these  obrious  inferences,  ki  their 
anxiety  to  get  rid  of  the  supposition  that  any  thing  praiseworthy 
belongs  to  the  character  of  the  enemy. 

If  these  accounts  be  true,  as  I  hope  they  are  not,  why  are  not 
the  traitors  tried  and  executed  ?  Why  are  they  suffered  to  re- 
main in  the  American  service  ?  Why  are  they  suffered  to  go  on 
thus,  shouting  at,  boarding,  and  taking  our  ships,  insulting  our  gal- 
lant officers,  and  putting  our  men  in  irons  ?  Why  are  they  not,  I 
ask  again,  tried  and  hanged  ?  Why  are  not  their  warm  bowels 
i  ipped  out,  and  thrown  in  their  traitorous  faces  ?  Why  are  their 
bodies  not  cut  into  quarters,  and  those  quarters  placed  at  the  king's 
disposal  ? — But,  I  had  forgotten,  that  before  these  things  can  be 
done,  we  must  capture  the  ships  in  which  they  sail !  Is  there  no 
other  way  of  coining  at  them  ?  It  were  well  if  those,  whose  busi- 
ness it  is  to  enforce  the  law  against  state  criminals,  would  fall  upon 
some  scheme  to  reach  them.  Cannot  the  parliament,  which  has 
been  called  omnipotent,  find  out  some  means  of  coming  at  them  ? 
In  short,  these  accounts  are  a  deep  disgrace  to  the  country  ;  and 
I  do  hope,  that  the  lords  of  the  admiralty,  who  published  that  elo- 
quent paper,  stimulating  the  sailors  to  fight  against  the  Americans, 
will  fall  speedily  upon  some  means  of  putting  an  end  to  so  great  a 
scandal. 

I  have  not  time,  at  present,  to  enter  so  fully  into  the 
subject  of  the  American  war  as  I  shall  in  my  next ;  but,  to  the 
loose  observations  that  I  have  made,  I  cannot  refrain  from  adding 
a  word  or  two  on  the  rupture  of  the  negotiations  at  Ghent,  which 
is  said  to  have  taken  place.  Who,  in  his  senses,  expected  any 
other  result  ?  It  was  manifest,  from  the  moment  that  Napoleon  was 
removed  from  France,  that  the  war  with  America  was  destined  to 
become  a  serious  contest.  There  were  all  sorts  of  feelings  at 
work  in  favour  of  such  a  war.  There  was  not  a  single  voice 
(mine  only  excepted)  raised  against  it.  Was  it  to  be  supposed, 
then,  that  peace  would  be  the  work  of  a  few  months  ?  Yet  this 
rupture  of  the  negotiations  appears  to  have  excited  a  good  deal  of 


Letters  of  William  Colbett,  Esq.  223 

surprise,  not  wholly  devested  of  a  small  portion  of  alarm.  It  was 
expected  that  the  Yankee  commissioners  would  jump  at  peace  on 
any  terms.  There  were  thousands  of  persons,  and  well-dressed 
persons,  too,  who  said  that  the  Yankees  would  not  hesitate  a 
moment  to  depose  Mr.  Madison,  and  send  him  to  »ouie  little  unin- 
habited island.  About  a  fortnight  ago  some  rifle  soldiers  were 
passing  my  house,  on  their  way  froiu  Sussex  to  Plymouth,  to  join 
their  corps,  bound  to  America.  A  sergeant,  who  wus  at  a  little 
distance  behind  the  party,  stopped  at  my  door  and  asked  for  some 
beer.  While  the  beer  was  drawing,  I  observed  to  him,  that  Jona- 
than must  take  care  BOW  what  he  was  about.  "  No,"  said  the 
sergeant,  "  I  do  not  think  it  will  come  to  any  head  ;  for  we  learn- 
ed, the  day  before  yesterday,  that  Madison  had  run  away."  I 
asked  him  if  they  had  been  informed  nhit'ier  he  had  run  to.  He 
replied,  that  he  had  run  "  out  of  the  country."  He  further  told 
me,  that  we  were  to  have  an  army  of  50,000  men  for  the  conquest 
of  America;  and  that,  if  they  were  not  enough,  Russia  had 
60,000  men  ready  to  send  to  our  assistance.  From  this  the  Ame- 
ricans will  judge  of  the  opinions  of  the  people  here ;  for  I  dare 
say  that  this  sergeant  was  no  more  than  the  mere  repeater  of  what 
he  heard  in  almost  all  the  public  houses,  resorted  to  by  politicians 
of  the  most  numerous  class — but  the  people  are  not  to  be  blamed 
for  this  delusion.  They  had  it  given  them,  in  the  report  of  a 
speech  of  one  of  the  lords  of  the  admiralty,  not  long  ago,  that  we 
were  about  to  undertake  the  deposing  of  Mr.  Madison  ;  and  who 
can  blame  them,  if  they  believe  that  this  deposition  has  taken 
place  ?  My  friend  the  sergeant,  on  whom  I  bestowed  my  bene- 
diction, will,  however,  I  am  afraid,  find,  that  this  work  of  de- 
posing Mr.  Madison  will  give  more  trouble  than  he  appeared  to 
expect ;  my  reasons  for  which  I  shall  state  in  my  next. 


AMERICAN  WAE. 

THE  following  account  of  a  battle,  and  of  a  victory  on  our  part, 
gained  over  the  Americans,  is,  perhaps,  the  most  curious  of  any 
that  ever  was  published,  even  in  thia  enlightened  Lancaster-school 
country.  Before  I  insert  it,  let  me  observe,  that  the  scene  of 
action  lies  in  tfie  heart  of  Canada,  though,  from  the  accounts 
that  we  have  had,  any  one,  not  armed  against  the  system  of  de- 
ception that  prevails  here,  must  have  supposed  that  there  was  not 
a  single  American  remaining  in  Canada.  The  victory  in  question 
is  said  to  have  been  gained  near  the  famous  falls  of  Niagara ;  nnd 
we  shall  now  see  what  sort  of  a  victory  it  was,  according  to  the 


2iJi  Letters  of  William  Cobbclt,  Esq. 

account  of  the  commander  himself,  and  which  account  will  becomu 
a  subject  of  remark,  after  I  have  inserted  it. 

[Here  he  inserts  (he  British  official  account  of  the  battle  of  the 
25th  July,  in  which  they  admit  a  loss  of  killed  84  ;  wounded  559 ; 
missing  1 93 ;  prisoners  42.  Total  878.] 

Was  I  not  right,  reader,  in  calling  this  a  curious  account?  Did 
you  ever  before  hear,  except  from  the  mouths  or  pens  of  some  of 
our  own  commanders,  of  a  victory  of  this  sort  before  ?  It  is  a  fault 
which  I  have  always  to  point  out  in  our  histories  of  battles,  that 
we  never  begin  as  the  historians  of  all  other  countries  do,  by  stating 
the  strength  of  the  armies  on  both  sides.  We  are  left  here  to  guess 
at  the  force  in  the  field.  We  are  not  told  what  was  even  our  own 
strength  on  the  occasion.  If  we  had  been  furnished  with  this  in- 
formation, we  should  have  been  able  to  judge  pretty  correctly  of 
the  nature  of  the  combat,  and  of  the  merits  of  the  two  armies. 
When  we  find  that  there  has  been  a  total  loss  of  878  men,  includ- 
ing a  vast  proportion  of  officers,  we  must  conclude  that  the 
"  drubbing"  has  been  on  the  Americans  only;  for  the  army 
under  General  Drummond  did  not,  in  all  probability,  amount  to 
more  than  three  or  four  thousand  men.  There  appears  to  have 
been  only  four  battalions  of  regulars  engaged,  which  would 
hardly  surpass  2000  men.  What  the  militia  might  have  amounted 
to  I  cannot  tell;  but  as  far  as  I  am  able  to  judge  from  the  account, 
I  should  suppose  that\we  have  lost,  on  this  occasion,  one  man  out 
of  every  five;  so  that  this  is  a  sort  of  victory  that  is  very  costly  at 
any  rate.  But,  except  in  victories  of  this  kind,  who  ever  heard 
before  of  such  numbers  of  missing  and  prisoners  on  the  part  of 
the  victors  ?  When  armies  are  defeated,  they  have  generally 
pretty  long  lists  of  missing  and  prisoners  ;  but  when  they  gain  a 
victory,  and,  of  course,  remain  masters  of  the  spot  on  which  the 
battle  has  taken  place,  how  odd  it  is  to  hear  that  they  have  so  ma- 
ny people  taken  and  lost,  the  latter  of  whom  they  can  give  no 
account  of!  And,  especially,  how  odd  it  is  that  so  many  of  these 
taken  and  lost  persons  should  be  officer 9,  and  officers  of  very  higfc 
rank  too !  Never,  surely,  was  there  before  a  victory  attended 
with  circumstances  so  much  resembling  the  usual  circumstances  of  a 
defeat.  The  commander  severely  wounded ;  the  second  in  com- 
mand severely  wounded,  and  ina.de  prisoner  into  the  bargain ;  the 
aid-de-camp  to  the  commander  made  prisoner ;  several  colonels 
and  lieutenant  colonels  wounded  ;  a  great  number  of  officers  and 
men  missing  and  made  prisoners.  If  such  be  the  marks  of  a 
victory  gained  over  the  Americans,  I  wonder  what  will  be  the 
marks  of  a  defeat,  if,  unhappily,  we  should  chance  to  experience 
a  defeat?  At  any  rate,  taking  the  matter  in  the  most  favourable 
light,  what  a  bloody  battle  this  must  have  been  !  To  be  sure  that 
is  a  consideration  of  little  weight  with  the  enemies  of  freedom,  who 
would  gladly  see  half  England  put  to  death,  if  they  could  thereby 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  225 

have  their  desire  of  exterminating  freedom  in  America  gratified. 
But  luis  is  not  all.  The  battle  has  not  merely  been  bloody,  but  it 
has  afforded  a  proof  of  the  determined  courage  of  the  American 
army,  and  leads  us  to  believe  that,  if  we  persevere,  the  con- 
test will  be  long  as  well  as  bloody  ;  and  it  is  the  length  of  the 
contest  that  we  have  to  fear.  The  malignant  wise  man,  who  writes 
in  the  Times  newspaper,  expresses  great  sorrow  that  the  "  heroes 
of  Toulouse"  were  not  arrived  in  Canada  previous  to  the  late 
victory.  But  what  could  they  have  done  more  than  to  render 
the  "  success  of  our  arms  complete?*'  Aad  this,  we  are  told,  was 
the  case  without  their  assistance. 

The  same  writer,  in  the  same  paper,  complains  of  the  sovereign 
of  Holland  for  sending  an  ambassador  to  Mr.  Madison ;  and  ob- 
serves, that,  if  he  had  waited  a  Jew  months,  he  might  have  been, 
spared  the  humiliation  of  sending  an  e?ubassy  to  Madison,  and  hia 
set.  Hence,  it  would  appear,  that  this  wise  man  gives  OUF  fleets 
and  armies  but  "  a  few  months"  to  conquer  America.  It  was  ihus 
that  the  same  sort  of  men  talked  in  the  memorable  times  of  Bur- 
goyne  and  Cornwallis.  But  in  those  times  America  had  not  a 
population  of  two  millions  ;  she  had  no  government ;  the  greater 
part  of  her  seaports  were  in  our  hands  ;  we  had  a  fourth  part  of 
the  people  for  us ;  and  the  rest  were  without  money,  and  almost 
without  clothing  and  arms.  I  shall  not  deny  &at  we  may,  by  the 
expenditure  of  two  or  three  hundred  millions  of  money,  do  the 
Americans  a  great  deal  of  mischief.  I  dare  say  that  we  shall  burn 
some  of  their  towns,  and  drive  some  thousands  of  women  and 
children  back  from  the  coast.  But  in  the  meanwhile  America 
will  be  building  and  sending  out  ships  ;  she  will  be  gaining  expe- 
rience in  the  art  and  practice  of  war  ;  she  will  be  pushing  on  her 
domestic  trade  and  manufactures ;  she  will  be  harassing  our 
commerce  to  death;  and  our  taxes  mill  be  increasing,  and  annual 
louns  must  still  be  made.  It  is  provoking,  to  be  sure  ;  but  it  really 
is  so ;  that  we  must  leave  the  Americans  in  the  enjoyment  of  their 
real  liberty ;  in  the  enjoyment  of  freedom  which  is  no  sham  ; 
must  be  content  to  see  their  country  the  asylum  of  all  those  in 
E;m>pe  who  will  not  brook  oppression  ;  we  must  be  content  to  see 
A  nerica  an  example  to  every  people,  who  are  impatient  under 

despotism,  or or,  (dreadful  alternative  !)  we  must  be  content 

to  pay  all  our  present  taxes,  and  to  have  new  ones  added  to  them  ? 
Nay,  after  having,  for  several  years,  made  these  new  sacrifice  in 
the  cause  of  "  regular  government,  social  order,  and  our  holy 
religion"  it  may  possibly  happen,  at  last,  that  America  will  re- 
main unhurt;  that,  having  been  compelled  to  learn  the  art  of  war, 
she  may  become  more  formidable  than  ever;  and  that,  in  the  end, 
her  Jlcets,  in  the  space  of  ten  years,  may  dispu'e  with  ours  that 
trident  which  we  now  claim  as  on,  exclusive  property.  Already 
do  we  hear  persons,  who  are  «<>  eager  for  giving  the  "  Yankees  a 


22C  Letters  of  William  Cobleit,  Esq. 

hearty  drubbing"  ask  why  this  is  not  done ?  They  are  already 
impatient  tor  the  conclusion,  before  the  beginning  has  well  taken 
place.  They  ask  why  the  heroes  of  Toulouse  were  not  at  the 
late  victory  ?  How  unreasonable  this  is !  Just  as  if  the  govern- 
ment couiJ  convey  them  in  a  balloon  !  Besides,  were  those  he- 
roes to  have  no  time  for  repose  ^  Were  they  to  be  set  on  the 
moment  they  had  been  taken  off?  The  government,  to  do  it  jus- 
tice, have  lost  no  lime.  They  have  sent  out  men  as  fast  as  they 
could  get  them  ready.  But  it  requires  time  to  transport  men,  and 
guns,  and  horses,  and  oats,  and  hay,  and  straw,  to  America ;  to 
say  nothing  about  bread,  and  beef,  and  pork,  and  butter,  and  pease, 
and  rice.  Nay,  we  see  that  they  had  to  send  out  the  timbers  for 
ahip*  to  Canada,  where,  one  would  have  supposed,  there  was 
mood  enough  at  any  rate.  If  we  were  to  get  possession  of  New- 
Ymk  I  should  not  be  at  all  surprised  to  hear  that  the  ministers 
were  sending  fuel  thither  for  the  cooking  of  the  men's  victuals. 
This  is  very  different  from  what  was  seen  in  Portugal,  Spain,  and 
France.  We  shall  find  no  partisans  in  America  ;  and,  especially 
shall  we  find  nobody  to  take  up  arms  in  our  cause.  All  must  go 
from  this  country.  It  is  a  war  of  enormous  expense;  and  we 
must  expect  to  pay  that  expense.  If  it  comes  to  a  close  in  seven 
years  I  shall  think  that  we  have  very  good  luck.  The  troops 
who  are  going  out  now,  and  who  have  been  held  in  readiness  to  go 
out  for  so  long  a  time,  will  hardly  be  able  to  pull  a  trigger  before 
next  June.  By  that  time  the  Americans  will  have  half  a  million 
of  men,  and  FREE  men,  too,  in  arms  ;  arid  who  is  to  subdue  half  a 
million  of  men,  armed  for  the  defence  of  their  freedom,  and  their 
homes  ?  How  did  the  people  of  France,  as  long  as  the  sound  of 
freedom  cheered  their  hearts,  drive  back,  hunt,  and  lash  their  in- 
vaders. And  have  the  Americans  less  courage,  or  less  activity, 
than  the  French  ?  How  silly  is  it,  then,  to  expect  to  conquer 
America  in  "  a  few  months!"  It  is  a  little  strange  that  the  go- 
vernment have  published  no  extraordinary  gazette,  giving  an 
account  of  the  great  "  victory"  of  which  we  have  been  speaking. 
They  are  not,  in  general,  backward  in  doing  justice  to  our  winners 
oi  victories.  But  it  is  useless  to  say  much  about  it.  Time  will 
unfold  the  truth  ;  and,  according  to  all  appearance,  we  shall  have 
lime  en-mgh  to  learn  all  about  the  events,  as  well  as  the  effects,  of 
the  war  against  the  republicans  of  America.  It  is  strange  that  we 
have  no  account  of  the  exact  numbers  of  the  prisoners  that  we 
ourselves  have  made.  If  any  officers  had  been  taken  by  MS, 
would  they  not  have  been  named  ?  And  if  we  have  taken  no 
officers,  while  the  Americans  have  taken  so  many  of  ours,  what 
manner  of  victory  is  this? 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  227 


WAYS  AND  MEANS. 

Is  my  last,  I  noticed  the  circumstance  of  ministers  having  been 
so  hard  pressed  for  money  to  carry  on  the  war  with  America,  that 
they  had  actually  found  it  necessary  to  apply  to  the  East-India 
Company  for  an  advance  of  duties  on  goods  not  yet  imported  ;  or, 
if  brought  to  this  country,  not  liable  to  payment  of  duty  for  several 
months  to  come  :  and  for  the  sum  thus  obtained,  amounting,  as  I 
am  informed,  to  one  million  two  hundred  thousand  pounds,  a  dis- 
count was  allowed,  though  I  have  not  heard  to  what  extent.  But 
this  is  not  the  only  circumstance  which  shows  that  ministers  can- 
not go  on  without  money,  and  that  they  have  adopted  the  resolu- 
tion of.  raising  it,  at  least  for  the  present,  by  other  methods  than 
that  of  loans. 

Beside  the  demand  upon  the  East-India  Company,  which,  for 
obvious  reasons,  they  very  quietly  submitted  to,  a  requisition  has 
been  made  upon  the  other  merchants  in  London,  and,  I  dare  say, 
elsewhere,  to  pay  their  arrears  of  duties  on  bonded  goods,  which 
had  not  for  some  time  been  levied,  in  consequence  of  the  general 
stagnation  of  commerce.  These  gentry,  however,  do  not  seem  so 
well  disposed  as  the  East-India  Company  are,  to  comply  with  the 
demands  of  government,  and  have  called  a  public  meeting,  for  the 
purpose  of  taking  "  into  consideration  the  very  alarming  situatioc 
in  which  they  are  likely  to  be  placed  by  the  recent  determination 
of  the  lords  of  the  treasury  ;"  and  the  Morning  Chronicle,  which 
is  always  sympathetic  when  any  thing  occurs  to  indulge  its  sple- 
netic humour  against  ministers,  has  shown  its  fellow  fueling  lor 
these  merchants,  on  this  very  trying,  very  alarming  occasion,  by 
the  following  sorrowful  lamentation :  "  The  scarcity  of  money, 
which  has  forced  the  chancellor  of  the  exchequer  to  the  harsh  mea- 
sure of  forcing  payment  of  the  duties  on  all  goods  that  have  been 
bonded  above  a  twelvemonth,  will  occasion  distress  and  inconve- 
nience in  the  city,  much  more  grievous  than  would  have  been  felt 
by  a  new  loan.  The  measure  of  bonding  was  adopted  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  this  country  a  depot  for  the  products  of  different 
climes — that  they  might  be  supplied  as  the  demand  arose  for 
them ;  and  it  was  an  admirable  contrivance  to  secure  to  the  coun- 
try the  carrying  trade,  as  well  as  to  ease  the  merchant  when  the 
markets  of  the  continent  were  shut  up  against  us.  These  goods 
have  accumulated  in  the  warehouses  for  five  years,  and  the  amount 
of  duties  upon  them  is  said  to  be  four  millions  sterling.  Now, 
to  force  these  goods  out  upon  the  market  all  at  once,  without  regard 
to  the  demand  or  price,  is  a  measure  of  such  severity  as  was  never 
attempted  before.  Many  'of  the  original  owners  are  gone.  They 


228  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

disposed  of  their  property,  and  it  may  have  passed  through  seve- 
ral hands.  In  many  cases  sums  have  been  lent  upon  the  security 
of  those  bonded  goods ;  and  if  they  are  to  be  brought  forth,  and 
exposed  to  sale,  they  must  fall  to  a  price  ruinous  to  all  parties. 
We  suppose  that  a  very  strong  representation  of  all  the  facts  will 
be  made  to  the  treasury  against  the  measure,  as  they  are  ordered 
to  clear  them  out,  and  pay  the  duties  on  or  before  Sunday  the  .'30th 
inst.  We  suppose  that  the  chancellor  of  the  exchequer  consider- 
ed lhat  '(he  better  day,  the  better  deed.'  If  be  should  not  suc- 
ceed in  procuring  this  seasonable  supply,  will  this  be  an  apology 
for  requiring  a  loan,  or  the  funding  of  exchequer  bills  after  all  ?" 

Those  who  have  been  accustomed  to  consider  the  writer  of  this 
journal  the  enemy  of  corruption,  will  be  able  to  appreciate,  by  the 
above  article,  his  pretensions  to  that  character.  When  the  un- 
expected event  of  the  overthrow  of  JNapoleon  electrified,  as  it  were, 
the  good  people  of  this  country,  and  almost  rendered  them  frantic 
with  joy,  did  not  the  Morning  Chronicle,  on  that  occasion,  vie 
with  (he  prostituted  hireling  journals  in  abusing  the  fallen  emperor ; 
in  stigmatizing  him  a  tyrant,  a  despot,  and  a  usurper  ;  and  in  giv- 
ing ministers  credit,  nay,  loading  them  with  praise,  for  the  noble 
efforts  they  had  made  to  rid  the  earth  of  such  a  monster?  Was 
not  this  a  direct  approval  of  every  warlike  measure  of  ministers  ? 
Was  it  not  a  tacit  acknowledgment,  that  every  sixpence  of  money 
they  had  levied  had  been  properly  done,  and  met  with  their  en- 
tire approbation?  But,  what  is  more:  Has  not  this  organ  of  a 
faction,  while  canting  and  whining  about  the  miseries  and  Miami- 
ties  of  war,  given  its  hearty  concurrence  to  the  prosecution  of  the 
war  with  America,  and  applauded  every  step  taken  by  govern- 
ment to  recolunize  the  United  Slates?  Even  the  most  servile  of 
all  the  crew  of  corruptionists  has  not  been  able  to  excel  this  con- 
temptible writer  in  the  manner  he  has  exulted  over  the  reverses  of 
the  Americans.  Either  the  editor  of  the  Morning  Chronicle  is 
sincere  in  wishing  the  Yankees  a  drubbing,  or  be  is  not  sincere. 
If  the  latter,  then  does  he  labour  in  vain  to  be  consistent,  by  pro- 
fessions of  regard  for  peace  and  abhorrence  of  war,  while  he  acqui- 
esces in,  and  applauds,  the  hostile  measures  pursued  against  Ame- 
rica. But  if  this  new  war  is  not  altogether  displeasing  to  the  or- 
gan of  the  whigs;  if  he  and  his  parly  have  resolved  to  allow  mi- 
nisters to  prosecute  it  their  own  way,  without  any  molestation 
from  them,  how  comes  it  that  they  are  endeavouring,  as  is  evident 
from  the  above  article,  to  paralyze  the  hands  of  ministers  ?  If  the 
war  with  France  required  money  to  carry  it  on  ;  if  we  could  not 
put  down  Napoleon  without  increasing  the  national  debt,  from  two 
hundred  ttndnfh/  nine  millions  to  NINE  HUNDKKD  AND  SEVENTY  ; 
if  the  deliverance  of  Euiope  could  not  be  effected  until  the  coun- 
try was  burthened  with  an  incalculable  load  of  taxes;  by  what 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  229 

means  is  it  that  we  are  to  reconquer  America,  and  to  compel  up- 
wards of  eight  millions  of  people,  who  have  shown  no  liking  for  our 
government,  to  submit  to  its  sway,  and  to  relinquish  all  the  bless- 
ings of  independence?  Is  there  any  other  way  of  doing  it  but  with 
money?  To  say  nothing  of  their  pay,  can  the  men  we  are  every 
day  sending  across  the  Atlantic,  to  humble  the  Yankees,  be  con- 
veyed thither  without  money  ?  They  must  have  food  as  well  as 
clothing.  The  seamen  must  also  have  food  who  navigate  the  ves- 
sels, and  this  not  for  the  voyage  merely,  but  for  the  whole  time  it 
is  calculated  we  are  to  take  in  conquering  the  Americans.  Then 
there  is  the  immense  quantity  of  naval  and  military  stores,  neces- 
sary for  such  an  army,  to  be  provided  for.  Can  this  be  done  with- 
out money,  or  even  with  a  little  money  ?  No,  surely  ;  the  war 
with  America,  like  every  other  war,  can  only  be  supported  with 
money  ;  and  where  are  ministers  to  look  for  it  but  into  the  pockefs 
of  those  men  who  .called  for  the  war,  and  who  promised  them  their 
warmest  support,  if  they  would  only  give  Jonathan  a  drubbing ; 
who  assured  ministers  that  they  would  consider  no  sacrifice  too 
great  to  obtain  this  desirable  object  ? 

What  right,  then,  have  these  men  to  come  forward,  now  that 
the  American  war  has  begun  in  real  earnest,  and  complain  of  the 
hardships  of  making  them  fulfil  their  engagements  ?  Or  where  is 
the  consistency,  the  respect  for  principle,  so  much  talked  of 
by  the  Morning  Chronicle,  when  it  tells  us  that  it  would  be  harsh, 
distressing,  inconvenient,  grievous,  severe,  ruinous,  and  the  Lord 
knows  what,  to  force  these  men  to  keep  their  promises  ?  Is  it  be- 
cause they  are  alarmed,  because  they  begin  to  feel  the  conse- 
quences of  their  folly,  that  they  deserve  compassion  ?  For  my 
part,  it  gives  me  real  satisfaction  to  find  these  bawlers  for  war  be- 
ginning at  last  to  feel  uneasy  for  their  situation.  I  wish  sincerely 
they  had  begun  to  be  alarmed  somewhat  sooner.  It  would  have 
been  for  the  interest  of  all  Europe ;  I  may  say,  it  would  have 
been  for  the  interest  of  the  whole  human  race,  if  these  alarmists 
Lad,  twenty  years  ago,  instead  of  raising  a  clamour  against  liberty  ; 
if  they  had  then  felt  some  of  those  compunctions  they  now  feel, 
about  the  cost  of  the  war  into  which  they  plunged  us.  As  it  is, 
however,  no  real  friend  of  his  country  will  regret  their  present 
alarms.  Long,  too  long,  has  the  majority,  the  most  deserving 
class  of  the  community,  suffered  inconvenience  and  distress. 
Harsh,  grievous,  severe,  and  ruinous,  to  thousands,  have  been  the 
measures  pursued  under  the  tedious  and  lengthened  reigns  of  cor- 
ruption. It  is  high  time,  therefore,  that  the  authors  of  these  ca- 
lamities should  themselves  have  a  little  experience  of  the  benefits 
resulting  from  the  pernicious  system  to  which  they  have  so  long 
given  countenance  and  support.  My  only  fear  is,  that  they  do 
i\o\fi'cl  enough  ;  that  they  are  not  sufficiently  alarmed  about  their 
situation  ;  and  that,  notwithstanding  all  their  sympathetic  brother 


230  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

of  the   Morning  Chronicle  has  so  dolefully  said  in   their  behalf, 
they  will  yet  be  induced  to  part  with  their  money,  and  to  go  on 
believing  all  that  our  lying  presses  tell  them  about  our  successes 
over  the  Yankees,   and  the  great  commercial  advantages  which 
these  must  shortly  produce.     The  chancellor  of  the  exchequer, 
in  the  meanwhile,  cannot  but  feel  himself  placed  in  a  very  awk- 
ward situation,  by  the  restive  spirit   displayed  by  John  Bull  on 
this  occasion ;  and  perhaps  is  now  regretting  that  he  so  easily  de- 
parted from  the  usual,  and  more  palatable   way  of  raising  money 
by  annuity.     He  was  driven  to  this,  I  have  no  doubt,  on  account 
of  (he  recent  uncommonjfa//  in  the  stocks,  occasioned  by  the  anti- 
cipation in  the  money  market  of  a  new  loan.     If  was  very  natural, 
in  these  circumstances,  to  turn  his  attention  elsewhere  ;  and  tvhere 
could  he  turn  it,  with  greater  propriety,  than  to  a  quarter  where 
the  war  had  always  been  most  popular,  and  to  a  fund  which,  in 
truth,  belonged  to  the  country  ?     The  money  had  in  advance  of 
the  East-India  Company,  can  scarcely  be  considered  in  that  light; 
but,  in  the  case  now  before  us,  it  is  admitted,  that  there  is  in  the 
hands  of  the  London  merchants  no  less  a  sum  than/owr  millions 
sterling  belonging  to  the  public,  that  has  been  accumulating  for  five 
years,  during  which,  that  same  public  have  been  submitting  to 
great  privations,  in  order  to  make  up  the  deficiencies  this  occasion- 
ed.    Had  the  Morning  Chronicle  been  properly  alive  to  the  in- 
terests of  the  country,  it  would  have  called  for  the  immediate  ap- 
plication of  this  money  to  the  necessities  of  the  state,  instead  of 
advocating  the  cause  of  a  set  of  men  who  have  enriched  themselves 
by  the  war,  and  who,  even  had  they  been  losers  by  it,  have  no 
right  to  complain  ;  because,  had  it  not   been  for  the  support  they 
Iiave  all  along  given  to  the  war,  the  nation  would  never  have  been 
in  its  present  calamitous  state.     These  loyalty  men   too ;  these 
ehurch  and  state  men  ;  these  haters  of  jacobins  and  levellers  ;  what 
new  proof  is  this  they  are  giving  of  their  patriotism  ?     Do  they 
wish  the  country  for  whom,  only  a  few  years  ago,  they  offered  to 
sacrifice  their  lives  and  fortunes ;  do  they  wish  us  now  to  believe 
that  there  was  no  sincerity  in  these  professions  ?  Were  they  loyal 
ortly  so  long  as  they  were  relieved  from  the  burdens  of  the  war  ? 
Do  they  regard  it  as  no  longer  deserving  their  support  than  it  ena- 
bles them,  by  a  vast  accumulation  of  foreign  products,  to  keep  up 
the  price  of  these  articles,  and  thus  render  war  advantageous  only 
to  themselves?     But  let  me  not  be  accused  of  ascribing  improper 
motives  to  these  gentlemen.     It  may  be  that  the  Morning  Chronicle 
has  misconceived  the  object  of  the  intended  meeting,  and  thus  in* 
cautiously  rendered  its  own  principles  suspected,  and  exposed  its 
dearest  friends  to  the  danger  of  being  ranked  amongst  the  disaffect- 
ed, the  jacobins,  and  the  levellers,  who  neither  delight  in  war,  nor 
jsigh  for  a  participation  of  the  public  plunder.     I  shall  not,  how- 
ever, lose  sight  of  the  subject;  for  those  who  have  been  the  most 
active  in  promoting  war,  and  who  have  derived  the  greatest  benefit 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  231 

from  it,  are  among  the  last  who  ought  to  be  allowed  to  escape  with- 
out paying  their  share  of  the  expense  necessary  to  carry  it  on. 
The  Courier^  in  noticing  that  part  of  the  statement  of  the 
Morning  Chronicle  which  respects  the  supposed  hardship  of  levy- 
ing the  arrears  of  duties  on  bonded  goods,  says  :  '•  The  goods  have 
been  bonded  three,  four,  or  five  years ;  at  last,  government  de- 
mands the  duly  upon  them.  Is  it  not  the  same  as  if  government 
had  given  a  man  permission  to  defer  the  payment  of  his  income 
tax  for  three  years,  and  then  required  it  to  be  paid  ?  It  must  be 
paid  at  last.-''  From  this  it  appears  that  it  is  seriously  intended 
to  put  the  loyalty  of  our  London  merchants  to  the  test.  I  hope 
nothing  will  occur  to  induce  ministers  to  abandon  this  intention. 
As  to  what  the  Chronicle  says  about  a  loan,  or  funding  exchequer 
biils,  the  Courier  replies,  that  nothing  of  the  kind  is  in  contempla- 
tion; the  truth  being,  "  that  the  ways  and  means  already  provided 
are  sufficient  to  meet  the  expenditure  to  be  incurred  until  some 
time  after  Christmas,  probably  the  spring;  and  the  parliament,  at 
its  next  meeting,  will  only  be  called  upon  to  extend  the  appropri- 
ation of  them."  It  might  be  supposed  from  this  light  way  of 
treating  the  subject,  that  the  money  raised  and  expended  since  the 
abdication  of  Napoleon,  had  been  of  a  very  trifling  nature.  But 
the  fact  is,  independent  of  all  the  taxes  levied  previous  to  that 
event  being  still  in  existence,  no  less  than  fifty-one  millions  sterling 
was  borrowed  subsequent  to  the  year  1812 ;  and  if  to  this  is  add- 
ed the  advanced  duties  paid  by  the  East-India  Company,  and 
what  is  about  to  be  raised  of  arrears  on  bonded  goods,  our  national 
expenditure,  in  the  short  period  of  two  years,  will  be  found  to  be 
equal,  if  not  greater,  than  what  it  was  during  the  most  expensive 
period  of  the  war  with  France.  The  sum  borrowed  since  1812  is, 
in  truth,  only  two  millions  short  of  the  whole  national  debt  at  the 
death  of  George  I.  and  more  than  a  third  of  its  amount  at  the  end 
of  the  seven  years'  war,  1T62.  These  facts  will  appear  obvious 
from  the  annexed  table,  and,  I  think,  must  render  it  sufficiently 
clear,  that  means  have  not  been  wanting  hitherto,  whatever  may  be 
at  present,  to  give  energy  to  the  established  system. 

King  William,  of  glorious  memory,  was  {he  father  of  our  na- 
tional debt.     At  his  death,  in 

M&Kom. 

1 702,  it  extended  to  .46 


1714,  death  of  queen  Anne 
17iJ5,  -  George  I. 

1762,  end  of  seven  years'  war 
17>2,  •     imericanwar 

179.%  beginning  of  French  war 

180-.',  middle  of  ditto 

1813,  month  of  July 


48 
53 
Ul 

268 
'259 
54') 
£973,283159 


Of  this  last  sum  there  has  been  redeemed  by  the  sinking  fund    224,C61,932 
Leaving  of  unredeemed  capital  -  £748,621,2'J7 

But  as  there  is  interest  p-tyal  !e  on  the  money  borrowed  to  form  the  sinking  funfi, 
the  redeemed  capital  canuot  ba  deducted,  vith  propriety,  from  the  amount  of  the 


232  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

debt,  until  the  annuitants  of  the  sinking  fund  are  paid  the  principal  and  interest  cf 
the  sums  they  advanced. 

I  observe,  since  (he  above  remarks  were  sent  to  press,  that  the 
meeting  of  the  London  merchants  has  taken  place.  The  chair 
was  filled  by  that  disinterested  and  staunch  loyalist,  Sir  Charles 
Price,  who,  poor  man,  has  more  occasion  to  regret  the  termination 
of  the  war  than  all  the  government  contractors  put  together. 
Whether  the  knight  and  his  brethren  had  taken  the  alarm  that 
their  loyalty  was  in  danger  of  being  suspected,  if  they  went  the 
length  the  Morning  Chronicle  had  done  ;  or  whether  Sir  Charles 
had  agreed  to  take  the  chair  as  a  matter  of  policy,  to  keep  down 
turbulent  spirits,  who  might,  on  this  occasion,  be  disposed  to  be 
clamorous,  it  is  certain  the  meeting  was  conducted  in  a  more 
peaceable  and  orderly  manner  than  there  was  reason,  on  the  first 
blush  of  the  business,  to  expect.  The  Courier  report  of  the 
proceedings  makes  the  loyal  baronet  say,  "  He  did  not  think  it 
necessary  for  him  to  make  many  observations,  as  he  conceived 
that  every  gentleman  present  MUST  FEEL  how  ruinou*  it  would 
be  to  the  trade  of  London,  and  what  a  cruel  hardship  it  would  be 
to  many  individuals,  .to  have  those  duties  strictly  levied  on  so 
early  a  day  as  the  30th.  The  committee  had  come  to  certain 
resolutions  which  would  be  submitted  to  (hem,  but  he  should  be 
happy  to  hear  any  gentleman  who  wished  still  further  to  elucidate 
the  subject.  He  hoped,  however,  that,  in  whatever  observations 
might  be  made,  the  subject  would  be  considered  coolly,  and  that 
no  extraordinary  warmth  might  be  introduced  into  the  discussion. 
They  hud  only  one  object — the  benefit  of  the  trade  ;  and  although 
they  might  differ  from  the  lords  of  the  treasury  on  this  point,  yet, 
so  far  from  making  any  severe  observations  upon  bis  majesty's 
government,  he  believed  that  it  was  the  wish  of  every  one  present 
to  support  it.  It  was,  thank  God,  the  best  government  exist- 
ing in  the  world.  The  resolutions  agreed  to  by  the  committee 
were  then  proposed,  and  unanimously  adopted.  A  committee 
was  then  appointed  to  wait  upon  the  lords  of  the  treasury,  and 
point  out  to  them  the  ruinous  consequences,  both  to  trade  and  to 
the  individual  merchants,  from  acting  upon  the  notification  that 
had  been  given."  I  am  glad  it  is  thus  established,  beyond  dis- 
pute, that  the  merchants  of  London  really  fed  the  ruinous  effects 
of  the  measures  which  they  have  so  long  and  so  strenuously  sup- 
ported. The  extraordinary  warmth,  the  severe  observations,  of 
which  the  chairman  was  afraid,  clearly  indicates,  that  the  minds 
of  the  trading  interest  begin  to  be  seriously  alarmed.  Had  these 
alarms  been  occasioned  by  any  other  cause  than  individual  in- 
terest; had  they  arisen  from  a  proper  conviction  of  the  impolicy 
of  public  measures ;  had  the  ruined  state  of  the  country,  the  rapid 
wnd  enormous  increase  of  our  national  debt,  the  pernicious  effects 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  2J3 

of  our  paper  currency,  and  the  insupportable  burden  of  taxes. 
Had  cause?  and  considerations  like  these  given  birth  to  these  fears 
and  apprehensions,  my  satisfaction  would  be  greater  still.  But 
no — it  is  self,  mere  self,  that  occasions  these  alarms.  Not  an 
atom  of  patriotism  influences  them ;  these  terrors  result  only  from, 
the  dread  of  being  compelled  to  disgorge  a  part  of  the  money 
which  the  bonding  monopoly  has  enabled  them  to  amass  at  the 
expense  of  public  industry.  They  would  willingly  apply  a  reme- 
dy to  the  disease,  but  then  it  must  cost  them  nothing.  They 
fcave  been  bawling^  for  more  than  twenty  years,  about  the  best 
government  in  the  world.  This  only  required  a  stock  of  impu- 
dence and  good  lungs.  Give  them  reason  to  hope  that  another 
twenty  years  of  clamour  will  be  as  productive  as  the  last,  and 
they  will  immediately  forget  the  ruinous,  the  cruel  hardship,  of 
compelling  them  to  do  justice  to  the  country,  and  bawl  as  loud  as 
ever.  But,  as  already  said,  I  am  glad  these  corruptionists,  who 
have  so  long  luxuriated  on  public  plunder,  begin  to  feel  alarmed 
at  their  situation  ;  first,  because  it  is  high  time  they  should  expe- 
rience some  of  those  pangs  that  have  sent  thousands  to  their 
graves,  and  to  the  workhouse.  Next,  because,  although  it  is 
not  upon  public  grounds  they  now  complain,  something  may 
arise  out  of  these  complaints  that  may  open  the  eyes  of  the  cre- 
dulous and  deluded  multitude,  and  ultimately  lead  to  a  favourable 
change.  I  see  it  stated,  in  all  the  newspapers,  that  the  emperors 
of  Russia  and  Austria,  and  the  king  of  Prussia,  have  issued  orders 
to  recall  the  excess  of  paper  currency,  which  the  great  exigencies 
of  the  war  had  occasioned,  and,  in  other  respects,  are  giving  their 
subjects  such  relief  as  must  convince  them  that  the  cry  of  peace 
is  not  a  deception,  and  that  the  benefits  resulting  from  a  cessation 
of  arms  are  not  chimerical.  But  in  this  happy  country,  under  the 
best  government  now  existing  in  the  world,  instead  of  the  circu- 
lation of  paper  money  being  lessened,  instead  of  the  public  debt 
being  reduced,  instead  of  the  war  taxes  being  removed,  they  are 
every  day  increasing  to  a  fearful  amount.  Everywhere,  amongst 
all  classes  of  society,  to  whatever  side  one  turns  himself,  nothing 
is  to  be  heard  but  curses  on  the  peace.  Even  when  walking  along 
the  public  streets,  it  is  no  way  uncommon  to  be  attracted  by  the 
murmurs  of  the  labourer  and  the  mechanic,  who  deeply  deplore 
an  event,  which,  they  calculated,  would  be  to  them  the  dawn  of 
happiness,  but  which  has  not  been  accompanied  with  one  single 
blessing.  The  plain  and  obvious  reason  of  this  disappointment  is, 
people  are  still  in  a  state  of  stupid  intoxication,  of  which  corrup- 
tion has  dexterously  availed  itself  to  plunge  the  country  into  a  new 
war.  They  may  complain  of  sufferings  as  much  as  they  please  ; 
they  may  talk  till  doomsday  about  the  hardships  they  endure  ; 
but  as  long  as  they  do  not  shake  off  their  present  lethargy  ;  as  long: 

36 


234  Letters  of  William  Cobbeit, 

as  they  continue  the  willing  dupes,  and  hug  the  chains  of  their 
oppressors,  just  so  long  are  they  undeserving  of  compassion,  of 
of  a  termination  of  their  miseries. 


AxMERICAN  WAR. 

WHEN  the  French  war  was  closed  in  a  manner  so  satisfactory 
to  those  who  had  been  its  most  strenuous  advocates,  they,  never- 
theless, perceived  the  want  of  war  with  somebody  or  other,  as 
being  absolutely  necessary  to  the  support  of  that  system  on  which 
they  lived,  and  which  a  long  war  had  introduced,  and,  in  some 
sort,  established.  It  was  curious  to  observe  the  effect  which  the 
peace  had  upon  this  description  of  persons.  They  mourned  in 
their  hearts  at  the  success  of  the  projects  of  the  government. 
They  had  been,  for  years,  reviling  Napoleon ;  they  had  been 
cursing  all  those  who  did  not  join  them  in  these  revilings ;  and 
yet  they  lamented  his  fall.  In  short,  they,  as  I  once  observed, 
found  themselves  in  that  sort  of  state  which  our  reverend  divines 
would  find  themselves  in  if  my  worthy  friend,  Mr.  Fordham,  were 
to  succeed  in  his  strenuous,  but  I  trust,  fruitless,  endeavours  to 
persuade  the  good  people  of  England  that  there  is  no  such  being 
as  the  devil.  There  were,  at  the  close  of  the  French  war,  thou- 
sands upon  thousands  who  dreaded  the  effects  of  peace  ;  who,  in 
factr  were  likely  to  be  almost  starved,  literally  starved,  by  that 
event.  To  these  persons,  a  very  numerous,  and  very  busy,  and 
noisy  and  impudent  class,  any  thing  that  would  keep  up  the  ex- 
penses of  war,  was  hailed  with  joy  ;  and  as  the  American  war 
was  the  only  source  of  hope,  in  this  respect,  the  outcry  was  at 
once  transferred  from  Napoleon  to  Mr.  Madison,  who  now  became 
the  devil ;  the  man  of  sin3  against  whom-  it  was  necessary  for  this 
chosen  and  pious  nation  to  wage  war.  Unluckily  for  the  cause 
of  peace,  the  corn  in  England  had  become  cheap  during  the  last 
half  year  of  the  war ;  and  all  that  numerous  and  powerful  class 
who  derive  their  incomes  from  the  land,  whether  as  landlords,  te- 
nants, or  tythe  owners,  began  to  cry  out  against  the  effects  of 
peace.  With  them  the  American  war  was  better  than  no  war  at 
all.  They  did  not  consider  what  burthen  of  I  axes  this  war  would 
cause.  This  was  quite  out  of  the  question.  The  whole  nation, 
with  the.  exception  of  the  few  remaining  jacobins,  went  "ding 
dong"  to  work,  "  to  give  the  Yankees  a  good  hearty  drubbing." 
Things  ace,  however,  now  somewhat  changed.  The  kings  are 
gone  ;  the  wiseacres  have  had  their  feastings  and  rejoicings  ;  the 
drunk  is  over,  and  nothing  but  the  noisome  fumes  left.  The  peo- 
ple, who  appeared  to  exult  at  the  peace,  now  seem  to  wonder  why 
they  did  so.  The  nation,  after  the  departure  of  the  kings  and 


Letters  of  William  Cobbell,  Esq.  235 

their  generals,  and  after  the  glorious  sights  in  the  parka  at  Lon- 
don, seems  to  resemble  a  battered  old  hag,  who,  in  the  morning 
after  a  rout,  sits  gaping  and  yawning,  sick  of  the  world  and  ot" 
herself.  Every  thing  is  dull;  and  all  appears  to  be  changed  for 
the  worse;  the  farmer  cannot  sell  his  corn  at  a  price  proportioned 
to  his  outgoings ;  the  French  send  us  all  sorts  of  produce,  dowu 
«ven  to  garden  stuffs,  at  half  the  price  at  which  we  can  raise  them. 
The  farmer  cries  out  at  this ;  the  shopkeeper  and  tradesman  re- 
vile the  farmer  and  landholder ;  they  rejoice  to  see  them  brought 
down,  and  at  the  same  time  complain  that  their  business  falls  off; 
forgetting  that  this  is  the  natural  consequence  of  the  bringing 
down  of  the  farmer  and  land  owner.  Those  who  have  fixed  in- 
comes, and  those  who  carry  on  no  business  of  profit,  those,  in 
short,  who  are  not  compelled  to  remain  in  the  country  in  order  to 
get  their  living ;  a  very  great  portion  of  these  have  quitted  the  king- 
dom, and  have  gone  to  avoid  taxes,  and  to  purchase  bread  and  meat 
upon  the  continent.  This  has  proved  a  dreadful  stroke  to  all  that 
part  of  trade  which  depended  upon  luxury  ;  and  what  is  worse, 
the  evil  is  daily  and  hourly  increasing — for,  one  tells  another,  one 
who  has  lived  in  France  a  month  for  what  would  have  been  re« 
quired  to  support  him  here  a  week,  tells  the  news  to  his  relations 
and  friends.  A  quartern  loaf  for  threepence,  a  pound  of  beef  for 
three  halfpence,  a  fowl  for  fourpence,  a  turkey  for  two  shillings, 
a  bottle  of  wine  for  sixpence  !  What  news  for  an  Englishman,  \vlu> 
has  a  family,  who  lives  upon  what  is  called  his  means,  and  who, 
with  a  thousand  a  year,  is  really  in  a  situation  to  envy  a  coachman 
or  a  footman  !  No  income  tax  to  pay  ;  no  exciseman  to  enter  your 
house  when  he  pleases  ;  no  tythe  of  the  produce  of  your  meadow 
and  garden,  and  pig-stye,  and  hen-house.  What  news  for  an  Eng- 
lishman !  who,  with  the  outside  of  a  gentleman,  lives  in  constant 
dread  of  a  tax-gatherer !  No  poor  rates  to  pay.  Nobody  who  has 
authority  to  make  you  give  part  of  your  property  to  support  those 
who,  perhaps,  are  really  less  in  want  than  you.  TV  hat  news  for  the 
poor  Englishman,  who  is  eternally  called  upon  for  money  by  the 
overseer  and  churchwarden !  In  short,  what  an  escape  from  ex- 
penses and  ca>-es !  No  man  can  tell  on  what  day,  or  at  what 
hour,  he  will  be  called  upon  by  the  government  agents  for  a  sura 
of  money ;  and  it  is  only  in  certain  cases  that  any  man  can  guess 
at  the  amount  of  the  next  sum  that  he  will  be  compelled  to  pay. 
What  a  relief  to  be  at  once  out  of  the  reach  of  all  such  demands ! 
This,  together  with  the  cheapness  of  living  in  France,  cause  peo- 
ple to  emigrate  to  that  and  the  neighbouring  countries  ;  while  all 
foreigners,  of  course,  have  quitted  England  for  their  native  coun- 
tries. Those  which  cannot  emigrate  have  all  the  taxes  to  pay, 
while  great  part  of  their  sources  of  payment  are  gone.  Thus,  that 
peace  that  overthrew  Napoleon,  which  was  to  bring  us  a  compen- 
sation for  all  our  sacrifices,  has  already  made  our  situation,  worse. 


236  Letters  of  William  Cobbdt,  Esq. 

seeing  that,  in  this  American  war,  we  have  a  ground  for  continu- 
ing all  the  taxes,  while  the  peace  with  France  has  taken  from  us 
all  the  means  of  paying  them.  Amongst  those  who  wished  for  the 
overthrow  of  Napoleon,  were  those  who  had  to  pay  ten  per  cent, 
out  of  their  fixed  incomes  to  support  the  war  against  him.  Oh  ! 
said  they,  let  him  be  beaten,  let  that  cause  of  the  war  be  put  down, 
and  then  the  tax  on  us  will  cease.  He  is  put  down.  He  has  been 
put  down  many  months.  The  tax  has  not  ceased,  and,  if  it  cease, 
some  other  tax  of  equal  weight  must  be  imposed  in  its  room,  or  if 
this  be  not  done,  the  American  war  must  cease ;  and  that,  too, 
without  "  giving  the  Yankees  a  hearty  drubbing  ;"  for,  up  to  this 
time,  they  have  rather  been  drubbing  us,  which  is  a  most  lamenta- 
ble fact  to  go  down  to  posterity.  To  be  sure  we  have,  if  report 
be  true,  given  it  them  upon  the  Serpentine  River,  where  the  Bri- 
tish naval  flag  was  everywhere  seen  flying  over  the  American 
flag  reversed.  But,  say  the  Yankee  readers,  what  does  this  Ser- 
pentine River  mean?  What  is  the  story  of  this  achievement,  so 
glorious  to  old  England,  and  her  wooden  walls  ?  I  will  tell  them. 

The  regent,  in  the  name  and  on  behalf  of  our  "good  old  king, 
God  bless  him,"  as  they  say  in  the  toasts  at  the  city  feast ;  the 
regent,  in  order  at  once  to  amuse  and  instruct  the  people  of  the 
metropolis,  caused,  at  the  epoch  of  the  peace,  fleets  in  miniature 
to  be  set  on  float  on  a  piece  of  water,  in  a  park  near  London,  call- 
ed Hyde  Park.  The  piece  of  water  spreads,  perhaps,  over  a 
space  equal  to  about  eight  or  ten  acres.  Here  the  English  fleet 
performed  wonders  against  the  Americans,  whose  frigates  they 
sometimes  sunk,  sometimes  burnt,  sometimes  destroyed,  and  some- 
times captured.  There  were  some  hottish  fights  ;  but  our  tars 
always,  in  the  end,  overcame  the  Yankee  dogs,  and,  at  the  close 
of  the  clay,  the  Yankee  flag  was  seen  flying  reversed,  under  the 
English,  in  token  of  the  defeat  and  disgrace  of  the  former.  But 
this  was  not  the  only  instance  in  which  the  Yankees  were  beaten 
and  disgraced.  In  Portsmoulh  harbour,  a  few  days  before  the 
continental  kings  risked  that  port,  I  saw  the  Yankee  flag  flying  re- 
versed under  the  English  on  board  of  several  ships.  The  regent, 
I  understood,  came  to  Portsmouth  that  very  night.  How  pleasing 
it  must  have  been  to  his  Royal  Highness  to  behold  such  a  sight ! 
The  spectators  were  in  raptures  at  it.  They  shouted  amain ; 
and,  for  the  moment,  seemed  to  forget  even  the  taxes. 

Well,  then,  who  has  any  ground  of  complaint  ?  The  govern- 
ment cannot  obtain  for  us  the  reality  of  what  was  here  exhibited  in 
vision,  without  collecting  from  us  the  taxes  necessary  to  support 
and  carry  on  the  war  ;  and  until  we  petition  against  the  American 
war,  we  can  have  no  reason  whatever  to  complain  of  the  taxes. 

The  question  of  justice  or  of  injustice  seems  to  have  been 
wholly  laid  aside  for  some  time  past.  The  giving  of  the  hearty 
drubbing  to  the  insolent  Yankees  has  supplied  the  place  of  all 


Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq.  237 

inch  topics.  But  I  do  not  know  how  it  has  happened,  there  are 
people  who  now  begin  to  ask,  nhy  we  are  still  at  war  ?  I  will, 
therefore,  once  more  state  the  grounds  of  the  present  war  with 
America,  in  as  clear  a  manner  as  I  can,  consistent  with  brevity. 
In  1810,  and  on  to  1812,  there  existed  two  subjects  of  complaint 
on  the  part  of  the  Americans  against  us.  They  complained  that, 
by  virtue  of  certain  Orders  in  Council,  issued  by  us,  we  violated 
their  neutral  rights  ;  and,  also,  that  we  were  guilty  of  a  gross  allack 
upon  their  independence,  by  stopping  their  merchant  vessels  at 
sea,  and  taking  out  of  them  persons,  under  pretence  of  their  being 
British  subjects.  The  Orders  oi  Council  were  repealed  in  1812, 
and,  therefore,  that  ground  of  complaint  then  ceased.  But  the 
other  ground  of  complaint  still  existed.  We  continued  to  take 
persons  out  of  their  ships ;  and,  upon  that  ground,  after  divers 
remonstrances,  they  declared  war  against  us.  I  ought  here  to 
stop  to  observe  that  a  great  error  was  adopted  by  the  nation  at 
the  time  when  the  Orders  of  Council  were  repealed.  It  was 
said  in  parliament,  and  believed  by  the  nation,  that,  if  the  Orders 
in  Council  were  repealed,  all  would  be  well,  and  that  a  settlement 
of  all  differences  with  America  would  immediately  follow.  This 
assertion  I  contradicted  at  the  time,  knowing  that  it  would  prove 
to  be  false ;  because  the  congress  had  repeatedly  declared  that 
they  never  would  yield  the  point  of  impressment,  that  being  the 
term  which  they  gave  to  the  forcible  seizure  of  persons  on  board 
their  ships  on  the  high  seas.  The  minister  (Perceval)  opposed 
the  repeal  of  the  Orders  in  Council  as  long  as  he  could,  alleging, 
as  one  objection  to  it,  that  it  would  not  satisfy  the  Americans  and 
prevent  war.  The  advocates  of  the  repeal  insisted  that  it  would 
satisfy  the  Americans ;  and,  as  a  proof  of  the  sincerity  of  this 
their  opinion,  they  pledged  themselves,  that  in  case  the  repeal  did 
not  satisfy  America,  they  mould  support  the  war  against  her  with 
all  their  might.  This  pledge  obtained,  the  minister  had  no  oppo- 
sition to  fear  within  doors  or  without;  for  the  opposition  were 
pledged  to  support  the  war,  and  their  prints  became,  of  course, 
pledged  along  with  them.  The  people  were  led  to  believe,  that 
it  was  only  the  Council  Orders  that  had  formed  the  ground  of 
complaint  with  America  ;  and  when  they  still  found  that  she  per- 
severed in  the  war  after  the  repeal  of  those  orders,  they  set  up  a 
charge  of  treachery  and  breach  of  faith  against  her.  This  error, 
which  originated  in  the  desire  of  the  opposition  to  beat  the  minis- 
ter, has  produced  much  mischief.  It  obtained  favour  to  the  war 
at  tirst;  and  things  taking  a  lucky  turn  upon  the  continent,  all  idea 
of  a  dread  of  America  vanished,  and  nothing  was  thought  of  but 
punishing  her  for  her  insolence.  But  still  her  great  subject  of 
complaint  existed.  She  went  to  war  on  that  ground  ;  and,  there- 
fore, let  us  now  see  what  that  ground  really  was.  It  is  well  known 
that,  whether  in  language,  manners,  or  person,  it  is  very  difficult, 


238  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt, 

if  not  quite  impossible,  in  most  cases,  to  distinguish  an  American 
from  a  native  of  England.  We  alleged  that  the  American  mer- 
chant captains  sailed  with  English  sailors  on  board  their  ships, 
some  of  them  deserters  from  the  English  navy,  and  that  as  the 
American  ships  were  very  numerous,  and  frequently  sailed  from, 
ports  where  English  men-of-war  lay,  such  harbouring  of  our  sea- 
men became  dangerous  to  the  very  existence  of  our  naval  force, 
and,  of  course,  put  our  national  safety  in  jeopardy. 

Upon  these  grounds  we  adopted  a  remedy,  which  was  to  au- 
thorize the  commanders  of  our  ships  of  war  to  stop  American 
vessels  at  sea,  and  to  impress  out  of  them  all  persons  appearing 
to  them  to  be  British  subjects.  The  Americans  alleged  that,  ia 
virtue  of  this  authority,  our  officers  impressed  out  of  their  ships 
many  thousands  of  native  Americans,  forced  them  on  board  of  our 
ships  of  war,  compelled  them  to  fight  against  nations  at  peace  with 
America,  and  in  a  service  and  cause  which  they  abhorred,  took 
them  into  distant  climates,  exposed  them  to  danger  and  to  death, 
ruined  their  prospects  in  life,  and  filled  America  wi'.h  riistiessed 
parents,  wives,  and  children.  That  this  was  the  case  in  numerous 
instances,  our  government  has  never  denied.  Indeed,  they  could 
not ;  for  a  great  number  of  persona,  native  Americans,  so  impress; 
ed,  were  at  different  times  released  by  the  admiralty,  on  the 
demand  of  the  American  consul  in  England.  But  it  must  have 
followed  of  necessity,  that  many  borne  away  into  battle,  or  into 
distant  seas,  would  never  find  the  means  of  obtaining  their  release  ; 
and,  indeed,  it  is  well  known  that  many  lost  their  limbs,  and  many 
their  lives,  in  our  service,  subjected  to  the  discipline  of  our  navy. 
Those,  who  are  for  giving  the  Yankees  a  good  hearty  drubbing, 
will  hardly  be  disposed  to  feel  much  for  the  fathers  and  mothers 
thus  bereft  of  their  sons,  or  for  the  wives  and  children  thus  bereft 
of  their  fathers.  But,  I  can  assure  them,  as  I  assured  the  Prince 
Regent,  in  1812,  that  the  people  of  America  felt  very  acutely 
upon  the  subject;  that  the  newspapers  of  that  country  were  filled 
with  their  lamentations,  and  with  their  cries  for  vengeance.  The 
American  government  remonstrated  with  ours ;  it  besought  our 
government  to  desist  from  this  practice,  which  it  asserted  to  be  a 
violation  of  the  known  laws  of  nations,  an  outrageous  insult  to  Ame- 
rica as  an  independent  state,  and  an  aggression,  in  short,  which  the 
American  nation  was  resolved  to  resent. 

Our  government  asserted  that  it  had  a  right  to  the  service  of 
its  own  sailors  ;  that  the  danger  to  our  very  existence  was  so  great 
that  the  practice  could  not  be  given  up ;  that  if  American  citizens 
were  taken  by  mistake  they  were  sorry  for  it,  and  would  give 
them  up  when  demanded  by  their  government;  but  that  the  prac- 
tice was  of  vital  importance ;  for  that,  without  it,  our  navy  would 
be  ruined.  The  last  argument  has,  indeed,  always  been  the  main 
one  with  those  who  have  justified  the  practice  of  impressment.  The 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  239 

American  government,  in  answer  to  this,  said,  "  We  Jo  not  want 
your  seamen;  we  would  rather  that  they  were  never  again  to 
'serve  on  board  of  American  ships ;  we  want  none  but  our  own 
seamen,  leaving  you  yours.  But  if  your  seamen  have  so  great  a 
partiality  for  our  service  and  our  country,  as  to  quit  you,  or,  as  to 
be  disposed  to  quit  you,  in  numbers  so  great  as  to  endanger  your 
very  existence  as  a  nation  ;  if  this  be  really  so,  it  is  no  fault  of 
ours.  We  cannot  help  their  preferring  our  ships,  and  our  country, 
to  yours,  any  more  than  a  pretty  girl  can  help  the  young  men 
liking  her  better  than  they  like  her  ugly  companions.  Their  fault 
is  their  want  of  taste,  perhaps ;  but,  at  any  rate,  the  fault  cannot 
be  ours.  Therefore,  you  have  no  reason  to  complain  of  us ;  nor 
have  you  any  right  to  interrupt  our  commercial  pursuits,  under 
pretence  of  recovering  those  whom  you  call  your  subjects.  There 
are,  perhaps,  some  Americans  who  have  a  taste  for  your  service. 
Keep  them,  in  God's  name.  We  never  do,  and  never  will,  at- 
tempt to  impress  them  from  on  board  your  ships ;  and,  indeed, 
we  have  no  right  so  to  do,  such  a  practice  being  without  a  single 
precedent  in  the  whole  list  of  writings  on  public  law,  and  in  all  the 
long  history  of  maritime  nations." 

Thin  was  the  substance  of  the  language  of  the  American  govern- 
ment.    But  they  did  not  stop  at  asserting  that  we  had  no  right  to 
do  what  we  did.     They  said  further,  "  Nevertheless,  in  order  to 
convince  you  of  our  sincere  desire  not  to  employ  your  seamen,  we 
will  do  much  more  than  strict  right  calls  upon  us  to  do.     We  think 
it  strange  that  the  jack  tars  of  England,  the  jolly,  sincere,  brave, 
faithful,  patriotic,  and  loyal  sons  of  Neptune,  to  whom  the  deity 
has  so  long  delegated  his  trident,  and  who  are,  as  we  learn  from  all 
your  national  sayings  and  singings,  BO  firmly  attached  to  their  be- 
loved king  and  his  family ;  we  think  it  passing  strange,  that  these 
admirable  and  single-hearted  persons  should  be  disposed  to  leave 
your  glorious  fleet,  and  to  flock  to  our  poor  Yankee  service  ;  and 
we  cannot  but  believe  that  some  ill-minded  people  have  calumniated 
your  honest,  jolly  jack  tars,  when  they  have  persuaded  you  to 
believe  that  the  impressment  of  the  jolly  jacks  from  on  board  of 
our  Yankee  ships  is  necessary  to  the  existence  of  your  navy. 
However,  supposing  this  really  to  be  the  case,  we  are  willing,  for 
the  sake  of  peace,  to  provide  an  effectual  remedy."     They  then 
made  these  propositions :  That  whenever  an  American  ship  was 
in  any  port,  no  matter  in  what  country,  any  person,  authorized 
by  our  government,  might  go  to  any  civil  magistrate  of  the  port 
or  town,  and  demand  to  have  surrendered  to  him  any  man  out  of 
the  American  ship,  upon  the  allegation  of  his  being  a  British  sub- 
ject; and  that  if  the  civil  magistrate,  upon  hearing  the  parties, 
should  determine  in  favour  of  the  claimant,  the  man  should  at  once 
be  surrendered  to  him,  though  such  magistrate  should  be  one  of 
our  own  justices  of  the  peace,  either  in  England  or  in  any  of  cv<: 


240  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

colonies.  And,  further,  in  order  most  effectually  to  prevent  any 
British  subject  from  being  even  received  on  board  an  American 
ship  as  a  sailor,  the  American  government  offered  to  pass  an  act 
imposing  a  very  heavy  pecuniary  penalty  (so  high,  I  believe,  as  a 
thousand  dollars)  on  every  master  of  an  American  ship  who 
should  engage  a  British  subject  to  serve  on  board  his  ship ;  so 
that  any  such  person  so  engaged  would  have  had  nothing  to  do 
but  to  give  information,  and  receive,  I  believe,  700  dollars  out  of 
the  thousand. 

With  this  regulation,  and  this  penal  enactment,  it  appears  to 
me  that  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  any  number  of  our 
countrymen  to  have  served  in  the  American  ships.  Reader,  can 
you  imagine  any  way  by  which  the  American  government  could 
have  more  fully  proved  its  sincere  desire  not  to  injure  England  by 
affording  a  place  of  refuge  to  English  sailors  ?  If  you  can,  state 
it;  if  you  cannot,  I  must  leave  you  to  discover  why  these  offers 
were  not  accepted  :  and  why  this  war  was  not  avoided.  But  sup- 
posing these  offers  not  to  have  been  satisfactory,  why  are  we  not 
at  peace  now  ?  The  peace  in  Europe  put  an  end  to  the  cause  of 
dispute.  Our  sailors  could  no  longer  desert  to  American  ships, 
when  they  were  discharged  from  our  own.  The  peace  in  Europe 
put  an  end  to  the  quarrel,  as  naturally  as  the  cessation  of  a  shower 
puts  an  end  to  the  quarrel  of  two  persons  who  are  contending  for 
the  shelter  of  a  pent-house.  We  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  make 
a  treaty  of  peace,  and  say  nothing  more  about  the  impressment 
o/*  seamen.  If  the  Americans  were  willing  to  do  this,  I  am  at  a 
loss  to  discover  how  the  continuance  of  the  war  is  to  be  justified. 
I  am  aware,  indeed,  that  it  has  been  strongly  inculcated  in  the 
Times,  and  other  newspapers,  that  we  ought  now,  now,  now,  now, 
while  all  goes  on  so  smoothly;  now,  while  the  tide  is  with  us,  to 
crush  America  for  ever ;  to  clip  her  wings  for  a  century;  to 
annihilate  her  means  of  forming  a  navy  to  be  our  rival  on  the 
ocean.  Alas!  if  this  be  the  project,  it  is  not  America  that  we 
are  at  war  with  ;  it  is  Nature  herself,  in  whose  immutable  decrees 
it  is  written,  that  no  such  project  shall  succeed.  We  must,  to 
effect  (his  famous  project,  annihilate  her  woods,  her  waters,  and 
her  lands ;  and  though  our  parliament  has  been  called  omnipotent, 
its  omnipotence  is  not  of  that  sort  which  is  requisite  for  such  an 
undertaking.  It  can  do  what  it  pleases  with  us  in  these  islands ; 
but  it  cannot  reach  across  the  Atlantic,  except  by  its  fleets  and 
armies  ;  except  by  means  of  the  same  sort  which  are  opposed  to 
it.  Here  it  is  omnipotent,  because  here  is  no  power  to  resist  it ; 
but  there,  a  power  exists  in  open  defiance  of  it.  Therefore,  it 
cannot  do  there  what  it  pleases. 

Jt  is  impossible  to  say  what  exploits  our  armies  and  navy  may 
perform  in  America.  I  shall  leave  the  military  and  naval  opera- 
tions to  lime,  the  great  trier  of  all  things.  But  certain  it  is,  that 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  241 

/ 

tte  gentry,  who  were  so  hot  for  the  drubbing,  begin  to  be  very 
impatient.  The  war,  in  their  view  of  the  matter,  appears  to  lan- 
guish. Little  or  no  blood  is  drawn.  We  hear  of  no  fine  towns 
demolished  ;  none  of  those  fatal  things,  the  manufactories  of  woollens 
and  cottons,  have  been  destroyed ;  there  are  still  American  public 
ships  of  war  afloat,  and  more  building ;  and,  as  to  the  private  ships 
of  war,  they  swarm  even  upon  the  coasts  of  the  "  mother  country" 
to  the  great  vexation  of  the  Morning  Chronicle,  who  calls  them  "  in- 
solent  marauders."  Oh !  insolent  dogs !  come  into  our  own  chan- 
nel, and  almost  into  our  own  ports  !  Come  three  thousand  miles  to 
insult  their  natural  motker !  I  wonder  they  are  not  afraid  of  being 
destroyed  by  the  "  British  thunder.*'  But,  Mr.  Perry,  who  makes 
use  of  inapplicable  terms  ?  A  marauder  means  one  that  goes  to 
seek  plunder  unlawfully  ;  and  if  he  be  detected,  he  is,  generally^ 
hanged — whereas  these  privateers  from  America  come  with  com- 
missions on  board.  They  are  fully  authorized  by  the  laws  of 
their  own  country  to  do  what  they  do ;  and  even  if  we  chance  to 
capture  them,  we  can  treat  their  crews  only  as  prisoners  of  mar. 
Perhaps  Mr.  Perry,  or  his  editor,  thinks  that  we  ought  to  be  al- 
lowed to  destroy  American  towns,  and  to  lay  waste  the  country, 
without  any  opposition,  or  any  act  of  retaliation.  Is  it  not  "  inso- 
lent" in  us  to  threaten  to  reduce  the  Americans  to  "unconditional 
submission?"  Is  it  not  insolent  in  us  to  say  in  our  public  prints, 
and  under  the  form  of  a  speech  in  parliament  by  one  of  the  lords 
of  the  admiralty,  that  Mr.  Madison  is  to  6e  deposed  ?  Tet  all 
this  is  allowable,  and  even  praiseworthy.  This,  however,  is  not 
a  way  to  put  an  end  to  the  war.  The  dilemma  in  which  the  foes 
of  freedom  are  placed  is  one  of  great  difficulty.  America  is  the 
very  hot-bed  of  freedom.  While  the  people  in  that  country  re- 
tain their  liberties ;  that  is  to  say,  while  that  country  remains 
unsubdued,  despotism,  under  whatever  name  she  may  disguise 
herself,  is  never  safe  ;  and  if  peace  takes  place  with  America, 
not  only  will  she  instantly  start,  with  enormous  advantages,  in  the 
race  of  manufactures  and  commerce,  but  millions  of  men  and 
money  will  flock  to  her  from  Europe,  which  her  example  will  soon 
again  shake  to  the  centre.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  war  be  per- 
severed in  against  her,  all  our  taxes  must  be  continued,  and  loans 
must  annually  be  made.  Which  our  statesmen  will  prefer,  it  would 
be  presumption  in  me  to  attempt  to  predict,  and,  therefore,  I  shall, 
for  the  present,  leave  the  subject,  with  just  observing,  that  those 
who  are  still  for  giving  the  Yankees  a  drubbing,  ought  to  receive 
the  tax-gatherer  with  open  arms,  and  greet  him  with  an  almcaf 
holy  kiss. 


2*2  Letters  of  William  Cobbdl,  Esq, 


AMERICAN  WAli. 

I  HAVE,  from  the  first,  expressed  my  apprehensions  as  to  the 
end  of  this  war.  I  used  the  utmost  of  my  endeavours  to  prevent 
it.  While  shut  up  in  a  prison,  out  of  which,  at  the  end  of  two- 
long  years,  I  went,  with  the  paying  of  a  thousand  pounds  TO  THE 
KING,  for  having  had  the  indiscretion  to  write  about  the  flogging  of 
English  local  militiamen,  at  the  town  of  Ely,  in  England,  and  about 
the  presence  of  Hanoverian  troops  upon  that  occasion  ;  while  so 
shut  up,  the  greatest  object  of  my  efforts  was  to  prevent  this  ill-fated 
war,  the  seeds  of  which  I  saw  sown,  and  the  maturity  of  which  I 
saw  pushed  on  by  those  malignant  and  foul  wretches,  the  writers 
of  the  Times  and  Courier  newspapers.  This  was  the  way  in 
which  I  employed  my  days  and  years  of  imprisonment:  my  effort* 
were  all  in  vain.  In  vain  did  I  show  the  falsehood  of  the  state- 
ments and  the  doctrines  on  which  the  war-whoopers  proceeded  ; 
in  vain  did  I  appeal  to  the  reason  and  justice,  and  even  to  the 
interest  of  a  people  deluded  into  a  sort  of  furor  against  America. 
At  last  the  war  took  place,  and  the  disgrace  which  we  suffered  tit 
sea  completed  the  madness  of  the  nation,  who  seemed  to  have  no 
other  feeling  than  that  of  mortification  and  revenge.  What!  should 
the  people  be  suffered  to  live  !  should  they  be  suffered  to  exist  in 
the  world,  who  had  defeated  and  captured  a  British  frigate ! 
should  those  who  had  caused  the  British  flag  to  be  hauled  down 
not  be  exterminated!  Disappointment;  astonishment;  fury! 
The  nation  was  mad.  "  Rule  Britannia,"  the  constant  call  of  the 
boasting  rabble,  at  places  of  public  resort,  was  no  longer  called  for 
with  such  eagerness,  and  was  heard  with  less  rapture.  The  heroes 
in  blue  and  buff  carried  their  heads  less  lofty.  Their  voices 
seemed  to  become  more  faint,  and  their  port  less  majestic.  They 
seemed  to  feel  as  men  of  honour  would  upon  such  an  occasion. 
In  short,  we  all  felt  that  a  new  era  had  taken  place  in  the  naval 
annals  of  the  world. 

Still,  however,  the  dread  of  the  power  of  Napoleon  restrained 
many  from  a  wish  to  see  us  embarked  in  a  war  for  the  conquest  of 
America.  But  he  was  scarcely  subdued  by  the  combined  efforts 
of  all  Europe,  when  this  whole  nation  called  aloud  for  war,  a  wair 
of  punishment,  against  the  American  states.  And  it  was  openly 
declared,  in  the  most  popular  of  our  newspapers,  that  we  ought 
never  to  sheath  the  sword  till  we  had  subjugated  the  states,  or,  at 
least,  subverted  their  form  of  government.  The  pernicious  exam- 
ple of  the  existence  of  a  republic,  founded  on  a  revolution,  was 
openly  declared  to  be  inconsistent  with  the  safety  of  our  govern- 
ment. It  was,  besides,  distinctly  alleged  that  now,  now>  now,  or 


Liters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  243 

neper,  was  the  time  to  prevent  America  from  ever  having  a  navy. 
The  necessity  of  destroying  her  means  of  having  a  navy  has  since 
been  repeatedly  urged.  It  has  been  stated,  and  restated,  that  our 
naval  power  must  soon  come  to  an  end  unless  we  now  destroy  this 
republic,  root  and  branch.  The  defeat  and  capture  of  our  fleet, 
and  the  defeat  of  our  army,  on  and  near  Lake  Champlain,  (of 
which  I  shall  speak  more  particularly  hereafter,)  have  not  at  all 
softened  the  language  of  the  public  prints.  The  Times  newspa- 
per, of  the  9th  instant,  calls  it  "  a  lamentable  evil  to  the  CIVI- 
LIZED WORLD  ;"  by  which  appellation  these  writers  always  mean 
KINGLY  GOVERNMENTS.  The  writer  then  adds  :  "  Next  to  th<> 
annihilation  of  the  late  military  despotism  in  Europe,  the  subver- 
sion of  that  system  of  fraud  and  malignity,  which  constitutes  the 
whole  policy  of  the  Jeflfersonian  school,  was  an  event  to  be  de- 
voutly wished  by  every  man  in  either  hemisphere,  who  regards 
rational  liberty)  or  the  honourable  intercourse  of  nations.  It  was 
an  event  to  which  we  should  have  bent,  and  yet  must  bend  all  our 
energies.  The  American  government  must  be  displaced,  or  it 
mill,  sooner  or  later,  plant  its  poisoned  dagger  in  the  heart  of  the 
parent  state."  Sooner  or  later  you  see !  The  gentleman  looks 
into  futurity.  He  does  not  even  hint  at  any  terms  of  peace.  He 
plainly  says,  that  we  must  displace  the  government  of  America; 
that  is  to  say,  change  its  form  and  nature  ;  subjugate  the  country, 
recolonize  it,  repossess  it.  Now  mind,  the  opposition  prints  do 
not  find  fault  with  this.  They  do  not  deprecate  such  an  object  of 
the  war.  They  surpass  even  their  adversaries  in  exulting  at  the 
burnings  and  plunderings.  They  find  fault  that  more  mischief 
has  not  been  done. 

Thus,  then,  we  see  what  the  nation  regards  as  the  object  of  the 
war.  I  say  the  nation,  because  the  Morning  Chronicle,  which 
is  the  organ  of  the  opposition,  is  just  as  bitter  against  America, 
as  are  the  Times  and  the  Courier.  The  truth  is,  that  the  only 
opposition,  as  to  the  war,  will  arise  out  of  our  failures.  The 
opposition  will  only  blame  the  ministers  for  not  having  burnt  more 
ships,  plundered  more  towns,  and  done  more  mischief.  There  is, 
indeed,  a  sort  of  dread  of  the  length  of  the  war.  People  are  a 
little  disappointed  that  Mr.  Madison  is  not  yet  deposed  ;  that  the 
states  have  not  yet  separated ;  that  our  sons  of  noble  families  are 
not  yet  wanted  to  go  out  as  governors,  and  captains  general,  to 
Pennsylvania,  New- York,  Massachusetts,  Virginia,  £c.  Sec.  ;  that 
it  will  require  another  campaign  to  bring  the  deluded  Americans 
to  their  senses  ;  that  (and  here  is  the  pinch)  the  income  tax  will  be 
wanted  another  year,  and  that  another  loan  must  be  made.  But 
"  what  is  one  more  year  of  expense  at  the  end  of  twenty-two  years 
of  war?  And  then  it  will  give  us  such  lasting  peace  and  secu- 
rity." Thus  is  fear  hushed  ;  and  when,  in  addition,  the  thought 
of  our  defeated  and  captured  frigates  comes  athwart  the  mind,  the 


244  Letters  of  William  C'obbetl,  Esq. 

-Income  tax  is  forgotten,  and  vengeance,  war,  and  blood,  is  the 
cry. 

I  now  proceed  to  notice  more  particularly  the  events  which 
have  reached  our  knowledge  since  the  date  of  my  last  article  upon 
the  subject.  The  plundering  of  Alexandria  appears  to  have 
been  the  most  successful  of  our  enterprises.  The  American 
papers  give  our  people  great  credit  for  their  talent  at  the  emptying 
of  shops,  and  the  embarkation  of  their  contents,  at  which,  to  da 
our  army  and  navy  (especially  the  latter)  but  bare  justice,  we 
seem  to  have  been  uncommonly  adroit.  It  seems,  however,  that 
the  squadron,  which  had  the  plunder  aboard,  had  but  a  narrow 
escape  in  descending  the  Chesapeake ;  but  plunder  there  was, 
and  a  good  deal  of  it ;  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  suc- 
cess and  profit  of  the  enterprise  will  act  as  great  encouragements 
io  future  undertakings  of  a  similar  description ;  the  only  danger 
being,  that  the  zeal  of  our  commanders  may  push  them  on  faster 
than  a  due  regard  to  their  safety  might  otherwise  dictate.  In  an 
attempt  against  Baltimore  we  failed.  That  is  to  say,  we  met  with 
a  defeat.  Not  in  the  field;  but  that  is  nothing  to  the  purpose. 
We  marched  and  sailed  against  the  town,  with  all  our  forces,  by 
sea  and  land,  and  we  were  compelled  to  retreat  without  doing  any 
thing  against  that  town.  The  town  is  safe  ;  and  if  the  war  end 
as  this  expedition  has  ended,  all  the  world  will  agree  that  Ame- 
rica has  defeated  us.  We  may  be  sure  of  this  ;  and,  therefore, 
we  must  carry  on  the  war  till  we  have  subdued  America  ;  or,  we 
must  make  up  our  minds  to  the  reputation  of  having  been  defeated 
by  that  republic.  A  pretty  serious  alternative  ;  but  it  is  one  which 
must  and  will  exist,  and  of  this  we  shall  become  more  and  more 
sensible  every  day,  and  particularly  if  we  attend  to  what  foreigners 
say  upon  the  subject. 

The  expedition  of  our  troops  and  fleet  against  Passamaquoddy 
and  the  Penobscot,  is  of  a  nature  so  trifling  as  hardly  to  be  worthy 
of  notice.  That  territory  is  no  more  important  in  America  than 
the  Isle  of  Sky  is  in  Great  Britain.  It  is  a  conquest,  and  so  would 
the  Isle  of  Sky  be  by  an  American  privateer.  What  a  figure  does 
this  conquest  make  in  the  Gazette !  What  a  grand  affair  it  appears 
to  be  !  But,  did  a  thousandth  part  of  the  people  of  England  ever 
hear  of  Passamaquoddy  or  Penobscot  before  ?  It  is  Baltimore, 
Charleston,  Wilmington,  Norfolk,  Philadelphia,  New-York,  Bos- 
ton, that  they  have  heard  of.  They  have  been  led  to  believe, 
that  the  city  of  Washington  is  to  America  what  London  is  to 
England,  or  what  Paris  is  to  France.  Nothing  can  be  more  falla- 
cious. There  are,  perhaps,  two  hundred  towns  in  America,  each 
of  which  is  more  populous  and  rich  than  Washington  was,  or  than 
it  was  likely  ever  to  be.  Besides,  we  did  not  keep  possession  of 
Washington,  as  the  Germans  and  Russians  did  of  Paris.  We  did 
not  remain  there  to  erect  a  mw  government  AVe  only  set  fire  to. 


Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq.  215 

a  few  buildings,  and  then  retreated.  If  an  American  privateer 
was  to  set  fire  to  a  few  fishing  huts  on  the  coast  of  Wales,  should 
we  look  upon  it  as  a  very  brilliant  affair?  Yet  this  Washington 
enterprise  was,  by  the  Morning  Chronicle,  deemed  the  most  gal- 
lant dash  of  the  war !  In  the  "  demonstration,"  as  Admiral  Coch- 
rane  calls  it,  against  Baltimore,  General  Ross  was  killed;  and  some 
of  our  papers  call  this  foul  play!  "The  felloiv"  says  one  of 
them,  **  took  aim  at  the  gallant  Ross  from  behind  some  brushwood" 
Well,  and  what  then  ?  Do  not  our  troops  shoot  from  behind  para- 
pets, and  walls,  and  works  of  all  sorts  ?  And  do  we  suppose  that 
the  Americans  will  not  make  use  of  a  bush  when  it  comes  in  their 
way  !  If  this  crying  tone  be  to  be  indulged  in,  we  shall,  I  fear, 
cry  our  eyes  out  before  the  war  be  over.  We  have  sent  our 
bombs,  and  rockets,  and  rifles,  and  all  sorts  of  means  of  destruc- 
tion ;  our  writers  blame  our  ministers  for  not  sending  the  means  of 
knocking  down  towns  fast  enough  ;  and  shall  we  abuse  poor  Jona- 
than if  he  avail  himself  of  a  bush,  and  of  his  skill  at  hitting  a  mark? 
General  Ross  burnt  their  president's  house,  and  a  Yankee  shot 
General  Ross.  These  are  things  which  naturally  occur ;  and, 
however  we  may  lament  the  death  of  any  officer,  we  must  reflect 
that  an  invaded  people  will  shoot  at  their  invaders,  unless  the  for- 
mer are  ready  to  receive  the  latter  as  friends. 

Before  I  proceed  to  notice  the  late  affair  on  and  near  Lake 
Ciw-.iplain,  there  are  some  remarks  to  be  bestowed  on  certain  cha- 
racteristic facts  which  have  leaked  out,  and  on  certain  paragraphs 
in  our  newspapers.  The  Americans  are  accused  of  cowardice, 
for  having  retreated  before  inferior  numbers,  and  taken  shelter  in 
Baltimore.  Why  was  this  cowardice?  The  main  object  was  to 
defend  that  great  and  rich  city.  The  second  was  to  annihilate 
our  army  and  naval  force.  To  make  a  long  stand  in  the  open 
country,  with  raw  troops,  against  disciplined  soldiers,  was  not  the 
way  to  effect  eifher  of  these  purposes.  The  main  object  was  ef- 
fected, and  our  retreat  only,  probably,  prevented  the  effecting  of 
the  latter.  The  Times  newspaper,  a  few  days  ago,  remarking  on 
the  cowardice  of  the  Americans,  contrasted  with  the  bravery  of 
our  army  and  navy,  observed  that  the  cause  was,  that  they  had  no 
feelings  of  patriotism  ;  that  they  cared  nothing  about  their  country* 
Now,  what  is  the  ground  of  this  war  ?  Why,  we  complained  that 
the  Americans  harboured  deserters  from  our  navy ;  and  they  com- 
plained that  Deforced  native  Americans  into  our  service.  This 
fact  is  notorious  to  all  the  world.  This  fact  is  recorded  in  our 
own  official  documents.  This  fact  makes  a  part  of  unquestionable 
history.  Another  fact  has  just  been  recorded  by  this  same  Times 
newspaper ;  namely,  that  two  of  our  seamen  were  hanged,  on  board 
the  fleet  in  the  Chesapeake,ybr  attempting  to  desert  to  the  enemy. 
It  is  also  stated,  in  the  same  paper,  (24th  October,)  that  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  of  our  soldiers  deserted  on  the  retreat  from 


246  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

Plattsburgh.  Novr,  let  this  empty  boaster  produce  us  instances  like 
these  on  the  side  of  the  Americans  if  he  can  ;  and  if  he  cannot, 
let  him  acknowledge  himself  to  be  either  a  deluded  fool  or  a  de- 
luded knave.  But  has  Jonathan  shown  no  seal  for  his  country  ? 
What  was  that  act  of  self-devotion  which  induced  a  man  to  ex- 
pose his  property  to  certain,  and  himself  to  probable  destruction, 
by  shooting  at  General  Ross,  and  killing  his  horse  under  him,  in 
the  city  of  Washington,  after  the  town  was  in  possession  of  our 
troops  1  By  what  feeling  was  the  man  actuated  who  exposed 
his  life  for  the  sake  of  killing  General  Ross,  and  who  must  have 
been  almost  alone,  since  he  was  hidden  behind  some  brushwood  ? 
To  what  are  we  to  impute  the  capture  of  two  hundred  young  men 
of  the  "best  families  in  Baltimore,"  found  in  the  foreground  de- 
fence of  their  city?  Was  greater  courage,  more  desperate  devo- 
tion to  country,  ever  witnessed  than  at  the  battle  of  Chippewa  and 
at  Fort  Erie  ?  How  comes  it  that  during  the  last  campaign  we  have 
lost  more  officers  and  men,  out  of  twenty  thousand  employed,  than 
we  ever  lost  in. the  European  war  out  of  one  hundred  thousand? 
From  what  feeling  was  it  that  Mr.  Madison  called,  as  we  are  told 
he  has,  Mr.  Rufus  King  to  his  councils,  and  from  what  feeling  ii 
it  that  Mr.  King  has  accepted  of  the  call  ? 

The  Morning  Chronicle,  that  chamelion  of  this  war,  now  boasts 
that  it  foretold  union  against  us.  It  never  foretold  it.  It  always 
urged  on  the  war.  It  called,  and  it  was  the  first  to  call,  the  burn- 
ing of  Washington  a  most  gallant  dash.  However,  it  is  now 
clear  that  we  have  completely  united  the  whole  country.  The 
bombarding  of  Stonington,  in  Connecticut,  and  the  plundering 
of  Alexandria,  in  Virginia,  have  done  what  all  the  workings  of 
good  sense  and  public  spirit  were  not  able  to  effect.  Mr.  Rufus 
King,  whom  we  regarded  as  the  rival  and  the  implacable  enemy  of 
Mr.  Madison,  has  taken  a  post  under  him  for  the  defence  of  his 
country;  and  we  shall  now  see,  that  amongst  those  whom  we 
thought  our  friends,  we  shall  find  the  most  resolute  enemies. 
Stonington  and  Alexandria  will  be  constantly  before  every  Ame- 
rican's eyes.  I  always  was  opposed  to  the  war,  and  to  this  mode 
of  warfare  especially.  I  knew  it  would  produce  that  which  it  has 
produced.  I  knew  it  would  render  the  breach  too  wide  ever  to 
be  healed  again.  I  knew  that  it  would  produce  either  the  total 
subjugation  of  America,  which  I  thought  impossible,  or  our  final 
defeat  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  with  the  ulterior  consequence  of 
seeing  America  a  most  formidable  naval  power,  which  the  recent 
events  on  the  borders  of  Canada  seem  but  too  manifestly  to  por- 
tend. It  is  quite  surprising  to  what  an  extent  this  nation  has  been, 
and  still  is  deluded,  with  regard  to  America,  and  to  the  nature  and 
effect  of  this  war.  It  is  only  fifteen  days  ago  that  the  Courier 
newspaper  contained  the  following  paragraph  : 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  247 

"  There  were  reports  last  night  of  our  having  attacked  and  ta- 
ken New-London,  and  destroyed  the  city  of  Baltimore.  Both 
these  events  are  probable,  but  there  are  no  arrivals  from  America 
later  than  the  last  despatches  from  Admiral  Cochrane,  dated  on 
the  3d  of  last  month.  But  as  (he  wind  has  been  fair  for  some 
days,  we  hourly  expect  a  fresh  arrival.  It  must  bring  news  of 
great  importance — intelligence  from  Canada — another  attack  upon 
Fort  Erie — another  conflict  with  General  Brown — perhaps  a  bat- 
tle with  the  American  General  Izard-— the  further  operations  of 
Admiral  Cochrane  and  General  Ross — the  result  of  the  expedition 
under  General  Sherbrooke — the  operations  of  the  Creek  Indians, 
who  have  already  made  their  appearance  upon  the  frontiers  of  South 
Carolina — and  "last,  not  least,"  the  effect  of  our  late  attack  upon 
the  minds  of  ilie  American  people— the  steps  taken  by  Mr.  Madi- 
son, if  he  yet  remains  president,  and  the  measures  adopted  by 
those  states  that  were  in  a  ferment  against  the  government,  even 
before  the  disaster,  and  were  not  indisposed  to  a  separation  from 
the  other  stales.  No  arrival  from  America  was  ever  expected  with 
more  impatience." 

Well,  the  arrival  has  taken  place.  The  impatiently-expected 
arrival  has  taken  place.  New-London  has  not  been  attacked. 
The  attack  on  Baltimore  has  failed.  General  Ross  is  killed* 
Admiral  Cochrane  has  arrived  at  Halifax  for  the  winter,  with  the 
plunder  of  Alexandria.  The  effect  upon  the  minds  of  the  Ame- 
rican people  has  been  such  as  to  unite  even  Mr.  King  with  Mr. 
Madison,  who  "  yd  remains  president."  ATo  ner  attack  has  been 
made  on  Fort  Erie,  but  the  army  of  General  Izard  ,at  Pittsburgh, 
has  been  attacked  by  our  commander  in  chief,  with  the  "  Wel- 
lington heroes"  under  him,  with  the  "  conquerors  of  France" 
under  him,  while  the  American  fleet  was  attacked  by  ours ;  and 
not  only  have  both  attacks  failed,  but  we  have  experienced  a 
more  complete  defeat  than,  as  far  as  I  can  recollect,  we  ever  be- 
fore experienced,  the  notable  affair  of  the  Helder  only  excepted. 
Thinking  Johnny  Bull !  You,  who  were  so  eager  to  give  the 
Yankees  a  drubbing — you,  who  were  so  full  of  fight  that  nothing 
but  another  war  would  appease  you — pray,  can  you  tell  me  how 
it  is  that  our  ministers,  who  have  given  us  such  exact  accounts 
about  the  "  gallant  dashes"  at  Washington  and  Alexandria,  and 
who  have  published  such  loads  of  despatches  and  proclamations 
about  the  conquest  of  the  Peoobscot  territory,  not  equal  in  popu- 
lation to  the  parish  of  St.  Martin's  in  the  Fields  ;  can  you  tell  me 
how  it  has  happened  that  this  ministry  has  not  received,  or,  at  least, 
iias  not  published,  the  account  of  the  land  and  water  battles  at 
Plattsburgh  and  on  Lake  Champlain,  though  we  have  Sir  George 
Prevost's  general  order,  issued  after  the  battle,  and  though  we 
have  numerous  extracts  from  Canada  papers,  dated  many  days 
later  than  the  date  of  the  order  !  Cannot  you  tell  me  this,  thinking 


248  Letters  of  William  Cobbdt,  Esq. 

Johnny  Bull!  you  who>  when  you  heard  of  the  capture  of  Wash 
ington  City,  were  for  sending  out  a  viceroy  to  the  American 
states?  You,  who  called  the  Americans  cowardly  dogs,  and  hail- 
ed the  prospect  of  a  speedy  release  from  the  income  tax,  and  the 
payment  of  the  national  debt  by  the  sale  of  lands,  and  by  taxes 
raised  in  America  ?  Well,  then,  in  waiting  patiently  for  this  offi- 
cial account,  we  must  content  ourselves  with  what  the  newspapers 
tell  us  they  have  extracted  from  the  papers  of  Canada.  Letters 
extracted  from  the  American  papers  make  our  loss  dreadful  in- 
deed. General  Macomb,  the  American  commander,  is  repre- 
sented to  have  written  to  his  father,  at  New-York,  telling  him  that 
he  had  killed  or  taken  3,000  of  our  army,  and  that  he  expected 
to  destroy  one  half  of  it.  Our  newspapers  said  that  this  was/afse. 
They  also  said  that  it  was^/rt/se  that  we  had  any  thing  like  a  fri- 
gate on  Lake  Champlain,  though  it  now  appears  that  we  had  a 
ship  actually  mounting  32  guns,  and  that  the  largest  of  the  Ame- 
rican vessels  was  rated  28  guns,  and  carried,  as  we  say,  30  guns. 
But  let  us  take,  for  the  present,  the  account  of  the  Canada  papers, 
and  look  with  impatience,  but  with  becoming  humility,  to  his  ma- 
jesty's ministers  for  further  information.  Thus,  then,  speak  the 
Canadian  printers  ;  thus  speak  the  bitterest  enemies  of  America  : 

Montreal,  September  15. 

"You  have  herewith  a  copy  of  the  general  order  of  ihe  i3th 
instant,  to  understand  which,  requires  more  than  being  able  to 
read  it.  There  never  was,  perhaps,  such  a  composition  ;  for, 
without  knowing  the  result,  one  might  be  led  to  think  we  had 
gained  a  victory.  Report  says  that  our  hero,  on  passing  some  of 
the  troops  on  the  road,  was  hissed  by  them  ;  and  further,  and 
which  I  believe  to  be  true,  that  when  the  order  was  given  fpr  re- 
treating, General  Power  rode  up  to  the  commander  in  chief,  and 
begged  the  order  for  retreating  might  be  recalled,  as  General  Bris- 
bane was  about  storming  the  fort,  and  would  have  possession  of  it 
in  a  few  minutes — the  reply,  it  is  said,  was — "  My  orders  must 
be  obeyed,"  and  then  a  general  retreat  took  place.  I  do  not  know 
with  any  certainty,  having  heard  no  one  speak  on  the  subject,  but 
it  will  not  surprise  me  if  we  have  lost,  one  way  and  another,  in 
this  disgraceful  affair,  not  less  than  800  men.  It  was  a  fair  batfle 
between  the  fleets ;  the  fort  did  not  play  on  the  Confiance  and 
Linnet,  as  has  been  stated.  Captain  Pring,  in  the  Linnet,  though 
aground,  is  said  to  have  fought  his  vessel  for  a  considerable  time 
after  the  Confiance  had  struck." 

Quebec,  September  16. 

"Stories  become  blacker  and  blacker  respecting  our  disgiace 
and  misfortunes  at  Pittsburgh.  Lieutenant  Drew,  of  the  Linnet, 
is  come  in  here,  being  paroled  for  fourteen  days  ;  he  states  the 
loss  of  the  fleet  to  have  been,  in  a  great  measure,  owing  to  the  land 
forces  not  storming  the  American  fort;  there  were  only  1,400  men 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

in  it,  under  General  Macomb,  who  informed  Captain  Pring,  of  the 
Linnet,  that  every  thing  was  prepared  to  surrender  on  the  advance 
of  the  British  army.  Report  says,  that  General  Robinson  is  under 
arrest;  that  Generals  Brisbane  and  Po.ver  had  tendered  their 
swords  to  Sir  George  Prevost;  and  that  Colonel  Williams,  of  the 
13th,  had  declared  he  would  never  draw  hia  sword  again  while 
under  the  command  of  Sir  George.  It  is  said  Sir  George  is  gone 
to  Kingston." 

Montreal,  September  17. 

"My  last  letter  to  you  was  of  date  the  14th  instant,  when  I  had 
the  mortification  to  inform  you  of  our  fleet  on  Lake  Ctiamplairi 
being  entirely  defeated  and  taken  by  the  enemy,  at  Plattsburgh, 
about  seventy  miles  from  this  place,  and  when  we  had  an  army  of 
14  or  15,000  regular  and  brave  troops,  who  only  wished  to  be 
allowed  to  storm  the  enemy's  fort,  and  which  every  body  says 
would  easily  have  been  accomplished,  had  any  other  person  had 
the  command  than  Sir  George  Prevost.  We  have  suffered  more 
disgrace  from  the  incapacity  of  this  man  than  we  will  retrieve  for 
months  to  come,  let  our  exertions  be  ever  so  great.  There  were 
six  of  our  officers  killed  on  board  of  our  vessels,  and  twenty  are 
made  prisoners  ;  and  besides,  we  must  have  lost  near  1,000  brave 
men  in  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners.  It  will  not  surprise  me  if 
the,  expedition  has  cost  about  500, OOO/.  Report  now  says  that  Sir 
George  Prevost  is  going  up  to  Kingston  to  attack  Sackett's  Har« 
bour,  but  I  am  sure  he  will  not  be  a  welcome  visiler  in  the  Upper 
Province.  The  army  retreated  most  precipitately,  and  are,  in 
general,  at  the  posts  they  occupied  before  the  expedition  took 
place,  with  the  loss  of  about  150  deserters  on  the  retreat,  beside 
a  vast  loss  in  provisions  and  munitions  of  war.  The  Wellingtonian 
soldiers  say  that  the  hunters  and  the  hoands  are  capital,  but  that 
the  huntsman  and  the  whipper-in  are  two  fools — meaning,  I  con- 
sider, Sir  George  Prevost  and  his  Adjutant  General,  Major  E. 
Baynes." 

"  We  have  inserted  the  general  order  relating  to  the  proceedings 
of  the  army  and  flotilla  at  Plattsburgh.  Candour  must  compel 
every  one  to  confess,  that  the  result  of  the  late  operations  has 
fallen  short  of  even  "  moderate  expectations."  The  battle  lasted 
an  hour  and  a  half.  The  force  of  each  squadron,  we  are  informed, 
stands  thus  :  British,  one  ship,  mounting,  in  all,  32  guns  ;  one  brig, 
in  all,  20  guns;  two  sloops  of  70  tons,  each  10  guns,  and  ten 
gun-boats.  American,  one  ship,  rated  28  guns,  carrying  30 ; 
one  brig,  24;  one  strong  schooner,  18;  three  sloops,  each  10 
guns;  and  twenty-four  gun-boats.  The  crews,  tonnage,  and 
weight  of  metal,  are  estimated  at  one  fourth  superior  on  the  side 
of  the  Americans  ;  and  we  have  no  reason  to  doubt  our  informa- 
tion. We  have  always  considered  offensive  warfare  as  th« 

32 


•250  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

mode  of  securing  peace;  and  recent  humiliation  has  not  changed; 
our  tone.  We  may  be  called  to  defend  points  which  have,  hither- 
to, not  been  thought  of;  and,  consequently,  the  late  retreat  may 
not  have  been  ill  advised :  the  fort  at  Plaf tsburgh  should,  how- 
ever, have  been  stormed.  That  part  of  the  labour  would  have 
cost  less  blood  and  embarrassment  than  was  sustained  in  the  re- 
treat ;  a  retreat  that  will  tend  to  rouse  the  energies  of  the  enemy. 
We  might  have  taken  '2,000  prisoners,  a  fine  train  of  artillery, 
and  immense  stores. 

"  We  are  not  military  men,  but  we  call  on  "  every  experienced 
officer"  to  support  or  contradict  us.  If  we  are  wrong,  we  shall 
take  a  pride  in  confessing  .our  ignorance.  The  scientific,  brave 
generals,  officers,  and  soldiers,  of  the  duke  of  Wellington's  army, 
and  the  others,  who  have  before  fought  in  our  cause  in  the  Cana- 
das,  did  every  thing  which  depended  on  them  to  support  the 
coble  efforts  of  their  brothers  on  the  water.  That  distinguished 
officer,  General  Robinson,  who  has  been  twice  wounded  this  year 
on  the  other  continent,  with  part  of  his  gallant  brigade,  had 
braved  all  danger  in  an  assault.  Some  of  the  picquets  of  the  fort 
were  torn  away,  and  a  few  minutes  more  would  have  given  up 
the  fortification,  with  an  immense  train  of  artillery,  into  our  hands, 
and  every  American  must  have  fallen,  or  been  made  prisoner.  It 
was  thought  necessary  to  check  the  ardour  of  the  troops,  and  we 
must  now  instantly  redouble  our  energies  to  obtain  command  of  the 
lake,  or  with  humility  await  our  future  destiny" 

Thus,  then,  according  to  our  own  accounts,  the  Americans  had 
but  1,500  regulars  and  6,000  militia,  wherewith  to  make  face 
against  1 5,000  British  troops,  commanded  by  four  major  generals 
and  Sir  George  Prevost,  a  general  of  long  experience,  and  of  great 
reputation.  On  the  lake  we  say  that  the  Americans  had  a  fourth 
more  than  we.  Suppose  they  had  !  I  do  not  admit  the  fact ;  but 
suppose  they  had.  A  fourth  !  how  long  is  it  since  we  thought  a 
fourth  too  much?  Every  one  knows,  that  Sir  Robert  Calder  was 
disgraced  for  not  pursuing  double  his  force.  We  are  becon»c  very 
nice  calculators  of  force.  We  shall  soon  hear,  I  suppose,  that  we 
ought  always  to  keep  aloof,  unless  we  can  count  the  guns,  and  know 
that  we  have  a  superiority.  Fifteen  thousand  men,  seven  of  them 
from  the  army  of  "  the  conqueror  of  France  !"  And  these  drew 
off  from  the  presence  of  7,500  Yankees,  to  whom  they  were  about  to 
give  a  good  drubbing  !  Why,  it  will  make  such  a  noise  in  the  world  ! 
It  will  make  such  a  buzz ;  it  will  astound  "  honest  John  Bull,"  who 
was,  only  the  last  market  day,  charging  his  glass,  and  bragging 
about  sending  out  a  viceroy.  The  whole  fleet !  What,  all!  Our 
little  ones  and  all !  All  at  one  fell  swoop!  It  will  make  Johnny 
Bull  scratch  his  noddle  in  search  of  brains.  The  chuckling  of 
honest  John  at  the  burning  of  Washington,  the  plundering  of  Alex-. 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  251 

andria,  and  bombarding  of  Stonington,  will  be  changed  into  grum- 
bling, I  am  afraid.  But  come,  Johnny,  you  must  not  grumble. 
You  were  for  the  war.  It  is  your  own  war.  The  ministers  are  not 
to  blame.  You  insisted  upon  chastising  and  humbling  the  Ame- 
ricans. You  would  have  Mr.  Madison  deposed.  You  said  he 
had  sided  with  Napoleon.  You  said  what  was  false,  Johnny  ; 
but  that's  no  matter.  You  called  upon  the  ministers  to  depose 
him.  This  ^will  always  say,  and  can  at  any  time  prove  against 
you.  The  consequences  of  this  victory  of  the  Americans  must  be 
very  important.  Sir  George  Prevost  is  blamed,  and,  indeed, 
abused,  while  the  officers  of  the  fleet,  the  defeated  and  captured 
fleet,  are  complimented  to  the  skies.  When  will  this  folly  cease  ? 
When  shall  we  cease  to  be  so  basely  unjust?  What  would  have 
been  said  of  Sir  George,  if  he  had  had  his  army  blown  into  the 
air,  or  cut  to  pieces?  If  he  and  all  his  army  had  been  captured, 
what  would  have  been  said  of  him  and  of  that  army  ?  Yet  this 
has  happened  to  the  fleet,  and  the  fleet  are  complimented  !  While 
he,  who  has  saved  a  great  part  of  his  army,  notwithstanding  the 
defeat  of  the  fleet,  is  censured  and  abused  ;  is  called  a  fool,  and 
almost  a  coward  !  Sir  George  Prevost  is  neither  fool  nor  coward. 
He  ia  a  man  of  great  merit,  is  of  long  standing  in  the  service,  has 
served  with  great  success;  and  he  has  shown  great  ability  in  be- 
ing able,  with  so  small  a  force  as  he  has  hitherto  had,  to  preserve 
a  country  generally  inhabited  by  a  people  by  no  means  zealous  in 
their  own  defence,  or  rather  that  of  their  territory.  Let  any  one 
look  at  the  situation  of  Lake  Champlain.  It  extends  in  length 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  perhaps,  running  above  the  state  of 
Vermont,  and  entering  our  province  of  Lower  Canada  in  a  line 
pointing  towards  Quebec.  It  was  very  desirable  to  drive  the 
Americans  from  the  command  of  this  lake,  which  may  be  called 
their  high  road  to  Montreal  and  Quebec.  It  is  the  great  channel 
for  their  army,  their  provisions,  their  guns,  to  pass  along ;  and, 
completely  the  sole  masters  of  this  lake,  it  is  not  easy  to  conceive 
how  they  are  to  be  kept  from  Quebec  without  a  very  large  army 
from  England.  If  the  Americans  had  been  defeated  upon  the 
lake,  or  had  been  compelled  to  retire  to  the  Vermont  end  of  it,  then 
to  have  driven  back  their  arnfy  also,  would  have  been  an  object 
of  vast  importance ;  nor  would  great  loss  in  the  affack,  on  our 
part,  have  been  an  irretrievable  loss,  or  been  followed  by  any  ex- 
tremely great  danger.  But  when  our  fleet  was  not  only  defeated, 
but  actually  captured,  and  gone  off  to  double  the  force  of  the  Ame- 
ricans, even  the  certain  defeat  of  their  army  could  have  led  to  no 
beneficial  result.  We  must  still  have  abandoned  Pittsburgh ;  the 
fleet  of  the  enemy  would  have  speedily  brought  another  anuy  to 
any  point  that  they  wished,  and  would  have  placed  that  army 
fifty  or  sixty  miles  nearer  Quebec  than  our  army  would  have  been. 


25-2  Letters  of  William  Cobbeit,  Esq. 

But  if  by  any  chance  we  had  been  defeated  by  /andf,  after  the  de- 
feat on  the  water,  the  loss  of  all  Canada  would,  and  must  have 
been  the  consequence,  if  the  Americans  had  chosen  to  conquer  it, 
which,  I  dare  say,  they  would.  Therefore,  it  appears  to  me,  that 
Sir  George  Prevost  acted  the  only  part  which  a  sensible  man,  un- 
der such  circumstances,  could  have  for  one  moment  thought  of. 
He  risked  every  thing  in  the  attack,  and  if  he  succeeded,  he  gain- 
ed nothing  worth  having.  The  loss  of  halfhis  arn^f,  which  was 
the  case  of  the  storming  of  Fort  Erie,  would  have  exposed  him, 
even  in  case  of  success,  to  great  peril.  The  Americans  could 
have  immediately  poured  an  army  (by  means  of  their  fleet)  more 
numerous  than  his  into  Lower  Canada ;  they  could  have  poured 
in,  all  the  winter,  militia  and  volunteers,  from  the  populous  and 
brave  republican  state  of  Vermont,  while  our  governor  had,  and 
could  have,  no  hopes  of  receiving  reinforcements  until  the  middle 
of  next  summer.  For,  supposing  us  to  have  spare  troops  at  Hali- 
fax, they  could  hardly  sail  thence  before  the  middle  of  October, 
and  before  they  might  reach  Quebec,  the  ice  in  the  St.  Lawrence 
might  have  scuttled  or  foundered  their  vessels.  The  St,  Law- 
rence, our  only  channel  to  Canada  from  England  or  from  Halifax, 
is  full  of  mountains  of  ice  till  the  month  of  June.  I  have  seen  a 
large  mountain  of  ice  off  the  mouth  of  that  immense  river  on  the 
15th  of  June.  I  believe  that  no  vessels  of  any  considerable  size 
ever  attempt  the  navigation  of  that  river  much  before  June.  In 
what  a  situation,  then,  would  our  governor  have  been  placed  if  he 
had  met  with  any  serious  loss  in  the  storming  of  the  fort  at  Platts- 
burgh  ?  And  yet  he  is  censured  and  abused  for  retreating,  after 
the  total  capture  of  our  cooperating  fleet,  while  the  officers  of  that 
fleet  are  praised  to  the  skies.  About  three  weeks  ago,  just  after 
we  heard  of  the  burning  of  Washington  City,  I  met  Sir  George 
Prevost's  wagon  between  Portsmouth  and  Hayant.  The  carter 
was  whistling  along  by  the  side  of  some  nice  fat  horses.  I  could 
not  help  observing  to  my  son  how  much  happier  this  fellow  was 
than  his  master,  who  had  to  govern  Canadians  and  fight  Ame- 
ricans. It  is  easy  to  talk  abou.t  the  "heroes  of  Toulouse"  form- 
ing part  of  his  army.  The  t(  hjeroes  of  Toulouse"  are  said  to 
have  remonstrated  against  the  retreat.  They  are  said  to  have  ex- 
pressed a  desire  to  storm  the  fort.  Sir  George  Prevost  would,  I 
dare  say,  have  been  of  the  same  mind,  if  he  had  had  reason  to  sup- 
pose that  one  half  of  the  people  within,  were,  as  the  people  of 
Toulouse  were,  ready  to  join  him.  But  he  well  knew  the  con- 
trary. He  knew  that  he  had  to  get  into  the  fort  through  a  river 
of  blood.  He  had  just  seen  the  fate  of  oiir  fleet ;  and  he  knew,  as 
:<  the  heroes  of  Toulouse"  might  have  known,  that  the  men  in  the 
fort  were  of  the  same  stamp  as  those  upon  the  water.  We  now 
find,  from  a  detailed  statement  in  the  American  papers,  coming  from 


Letters  of  William  Cobbdt,  Esq.  253 

authority,  and  accompanied  by  an  account  of  killed  and  wounded 
in  the  naval  battle  on  the  lake,  that  our  fleet  had  93  guns  and 
1,050  men,  while  that  of  America  had  but  86  guns  and  820  men; 
our  fleet  was  all  taken  but  the  gun-boals,  carrying  sixteen  guns 
amongst  them  all.  And  yet  the  naval  people  are  praised,  while 
Sir  George  Prevost  is  censured.  Whence  arises  this  injustice  ? 
Whence  this  security  of  the  navy  from  all  censure,  and  even  from 
all  criticism  £  Do  we  feel  that  to  censure  any  part  of  it  is  to  dis- 
cover to  the  world  that  it  is  not  always  infallible  ?  Do  we  suppose, 
that  in  discovering  our  fears  of  its  inferiority,  in  point  of  quality,  to 
that  of  America,  we  shall  make  the  world  perceive  the  lamentable 
fact  ?  Are  we  fools  enough  to  hope  that  the  history  of  this  battle 
can  be  hidden  from  France  and  the  rest  of  Europe  ?  Why,  then, 
this  injustice  f  Why  not  blame  the  naval  part  of  the  forcea,  if 
blame  must  fall  somewhere  ?  I  see  no  necessity  for  its  falling  any 
where,  for  my  part.  We  had  eighty-four  men  killed  and  one  hun- 
dred and  ten  wounded,  which  shows  that  there  was  some  fighting. 
We  had  double  the  number  killed  and  wounded  that  Jonathan  had, 
which  shows  that  Jonathan  was  the  more  able  bodied  and  active 
of  the  two.  A  letter  was,  a  little  while  ago,  published  as  from 
one  of  our  officers  in  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  saying,  that  Jonathan 
must  now  look  pretty  sharply  about  him.  It  appears  from  the 
result  of  this  battle,  that  Jonathan  does  look  pretty  sharply  about 
him.  Now,  then,  let  us  hear  what  effect  this  event  has  had  upon 
the  Times  newspaper,  which,  only  a  few  weeks  ago,  insisted  on  it, 
that  the  American  government  must  be  displaced,  that  the  Ame- 
ricans were  cowards,  that  they  cared  nothing  about  their  country, 
and  th'-tt  the  states  would  soon  divide,  and  come  over,  one  at  a 
time,  to  the  parent  country.  Now  let  us  hear  what  this  torch 
bearer  of  the  war,  this  trumpet  of  fire  and  sword,  provoker  to 
every  act  of  violence  and  cruelty — let  us  hear  what  he  now  has  to 
say  ;  he  who  has,  for  three  years  past,  been  urging  the  govern- 
ment on  to  this  disastrous  contest. 

"•Halifax  papers  to  the  6th  instant,  New- York  to  the  22d  ulti- 
mo, and  Boston  to  the  25th,  have  been  received.  There  is  no 
dissembling  f  hat  the  popular  outcry  in  Canada  against  Sir  George 
Prevost's  conduct,  on  account  of  the  late  operations  against 
Plattsburgh,  is  very  general  and  very  loud.  We  cannot  pretend 
to  determine  on  the  talents  of  this  officer,  or  on  the  wisdom  of  hia 
plaris  ;  but  we  recur  to  the  suggestions  which  we  made  at  a  very 
early  period  of  the  campaign,  and  regret  exceedingly  that  one  of 
our  most  experienced  generals  from  Spain  was  not  sent  at  once, 
flushed  with  victory,  from  the  fields  of  Toulouse  to  the  heart 
of  the  United  States.  Was  it  beneath  the  dignity  of  Lord  Hill, 
or  even  of  the  duke  of  Wellington  ?  Fatal  prejudice  !  To  despise, 
to  irritate,  and,  after  all,  not  to  sitlnlue  onr  adversaries,  is  the 
worst  and  weakest  of  all  policy.  Now  we  have  reduced  ourselves 


254  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

to  this  dilemma,  of  being  obliged  to  carry  our  point  by  main  force, 
or  to  retire  from  the  contest  ten  times  worse  than  we  began  it, 
with  the  mere  postponement  of  an  abstract  question,  which  has 
no  reference  to  our  present  state  of  peace,  with  a  fund  of  the  bit- 
terest animosity  laid  up  against  us  in  future,  with  our  flag  dis- 
graced on  the  ocean  and  on  the  lakes,  and  with  the  laurels  withered 
at  Plattsburgh,  which  were  so  hardly,  but  so  gloriously  earned, 
in  Portugal,  and   Spain,  and  France.     The  spirit  of  the  British 
nation  cannot  stoop  to  the  latter  alternative ;  and,  therefore,  at 
whatever  risk,  at  whatever  expense,  WE  must  embrace,  the  former. 
The  invaluable  year  1814,  when  the  treachery  of  America  was 
fresh  in  the  minds  of  the  European  powers,  is  past.     Already  do 
they  begin  to  relax  in  their  deep  and  merited   contempt   of  the 
servile  hypocrite,  Madison.     Already  do   they  turn  a  compas- 
sionating  look  on   the   smoking  rafters  of  the  would  be  capitol. 
Presently,  perhaps,  the  Russian  cabinet  may  forget  that  the  em- 
press Catherine,  to  her   dying  day,  treated  the   Americans  as 
rebels  to  their  legal  sovereign  ;  or  the  Spanish  court,  while   it  is 
endeavouring  to  rivet  its  yoke  on  Buenos  Ayres,  may  join  with 
the  philosophers  of  Virginia  in  contending  for  the  liberty  of  the 
seas.     Such,   and  still  greater  political  inconsistencies  we   have 
before  now  witnessed.     Therefore,  let  time  be  taken  by  the  fore- 
lock; let  not  another  campaign  be  'wasted  in  diversions   and 
demonstrations  ;  let  not  another  autumnal  sun  go  down  in  DIS- 
GRACE  TO    THE    BRITISH  ARMS.      Commodore   Macdonough's 
laconic  note  savours  a  little  of  affectation;  but  we  are  sorry  he 
has  so  favourable  an  opportunity  for  displaying  the  brevity  of  hia 
style  to  advantage.     General   Macomb's   orders,    however,  are 
sufficiently  lengthy;  and,  unfortunately,  he  also   has  some  un- 
pleasant information  to  give  us.     He  states  that   14,000  British 
veterans  have  been  foiled  by  1,500  American  regulars,  and  some 
few  militia,  the  whole  not  exceeding  2,500  men.     If  he  is  correct 
in   these  estimates,  it  is  surely  high  time  that  we  should  either 
give  up  teaching  the  Americans  war,  or  send  them  some  better 
instructors." 

The  former  is  the  best,  be  assured  !  Why  should  commodore 
Macdonough  be  charged  with  affectation,  because  he  writes  a 
short  letter  ?  He  has  no  sons,  or  cousins,  or  patron's  sons  or 
cousins,  or  bastards,  to  recommend  for  the  receipts  of  presents 
or  pensions.  But  I  have,  at  present,  no  room  for  further  com- 
ment on  this  article.  I  will  resume  the  subject  in  my  next. 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  255 


AMERICAN  WAR. 

Negotiations  at  Ghent  ;  measures  of  the  American  congress  ; 
battle  near  Fort  Erie;  Lake  Ontario;  despatches  about  the  Lake 
Champlain  battles  ;  British  attack  on  Fort  Mobile. — The  nego- 
tiations at  Ghent,  though  kept  a  secret  from  Johnny  Bull,  have 
reached  him,  as  most  other  disclosures  do,  through  the  tell-tale 
press  of  America.    Oh !  that  republic,  and  her  press !     How  many 
things  the  world  knows  through  them!      Is  there  no  way  of  re- 
ducing them  to  silence  ?     Take  it  in  hand,  good  people,  and  see 
if  there  be  no  means  of  accomplishing  it.    These  negotiations  show 
that  Jonathan,  poor  despised  Jonathan,  is  not  much  less  smart 
in  the  cabinet  than  he  is  in  the  field.     Certainly  nothing  was  ever 
better  managed  than  this  negotiation  on  the  part  of  Jonathan.     He 
pricked  our  brains,  and  then  would  do  nothing  until  he  heard  what 
the  people  of  America  should  say.     The  ground  of  Messrs.  Bay- 
ard, Gallatin,  £c.  was  very  reasonable  ;  for  how  could  they  be  ex- 
pected to  have  instructions  relating  to  matters  never  before  matters 
of  dispute  ?  The  substance  of  the  disclosure  is  this  :  we  asked,  as 
a  preliminary,  that  the  republicans  should  give  up  part  of  their 
territory,  including  those  very  hikes,   and  their   own  borders  of 
those  lakes,  whereon  they  have  defeated  us,  and  which  are  their 
only  secure  barrier  against  us  and  our  Indian  allies.      The  presi- 
dent, of  course,    lost  no  time  in  laying  these  papers  before  the 
congress,  who  are  said  to  have  heard  them  with  unanimous  indig- 
nation ;  and  the  Times  newspaper  tells   us  that  "  these  papers 
have  been  made  the  means  of  uniting  against  us  the  whole  Ame- 
rican people."     Thou  great  ass,  they  were  united  against  us  be- 
fore.    There  were  only  a  handful  of  "  serene  highnesses1'  and 
"  Cossacksr  in  Massachusetts,  the  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Henry, 
who  were  not  united  against  us.     This,  I  suppose,  is  the  shift  that 
you  resort  to  in  order  to  cover  your  disgrace,  in  having  to  an- 
nounce that  Mr.  Madison  is  "  yet"  president,  and  that  he  is  not 
even  "  impeached."      There  is  one  passage  in  the  last  despatch 
of  Mr.  Monroe,  worthy  of  great  attention.     He  tells  the  plenipo- 
tentiaries that  "  there  is  much  reason  to  presume  that  Great  Bri- 
tain has  now  other  objects  than  those  for  which  she  has  hitherto 
professed  to  contend."      Probably  he  built  this  presumption  on 
the  language  of  our  public  prints,  or  on  the  report  of  .a  speech  in 
parliament,  attributed  by  those  newspapers  to  Sir  Joseph  Yorke, 
one  of  the  lords  of  the  admiralty,  in  which  report  the  reporters 
made  Sir  Joseph  say,  that  we  had  Mr.  Madison  to  DEPOSE  before 
we  could  lay  down  our  arms.      This  report  was  published   some 
time  ia  May  or  June ;  and  in  August  Mr.  Monroe's  despatch 


236 


Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 


was  written.  However,  be  the  ground  of  presumption  what  it 
would,  Mr.  Madison  does  not  seem  to  have  changed  his  tone  on 
account  of  it ;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  people  must 
have  been  greatly  inflamed  by  such  an  impudent  declaration. 
This  shows  what  mischiefs  newspapers  can  do.  The  war  is,  iu 
great  part,  the  war  of  the  Times  and  the  Courier.  Let  them, 
therefore,  weep  over  the  fate  of  our  fleets  and  armies  in  Canada,  and 
at  Mobile.  The  measures  of  the  American  congress  seem  to  be 
of  a  very  bold  character,  and  well  calculated  for  a  war  of  long 
continuation.  The  president  has  not  been  afraid  to  lay  bare  all 
the  wants  of  the  government,  and  to  appeal  to  the  sense  and  pa- 
triotism of  the  people.  From  every  thing  that  I  can  discover,  the 
noblesse  of  Massachusetts  will  not  be  able  to  prevent,  or  even  im- 
pede, any  of  these  measures.  J  >hnny  Bull  is,  in  last  Saturday's 
Gazette,  treated  to  an  account  of  the  late  battle  near  Fort  Erie, 
from  which  Jonathan  sallied  out  upon  General  Drumrnond's  army. 
According  to  this  account,  our  loss  was  as  follows : 


Captains 
Lieutenants 
Sergeants 
Bank  and  file 


Lieutenant  colonels 

Captains 

Lieutenants 

Ensigns 

Sergeants 

Drummers 

Rank  and  file 


Majors 

Captains 

Lieutenants 

Ensigns 

Adjutants 

Surgeons 

Sergeants 

Drummers 

Bank  and  file 


KILLED. 


•\\  OUNDED 


1ISSING. 


7 

105 


-115 


3 

3 
10 

1 
13 

1 
147 


.178 


3 

2 
1 

1 

21 

2 

280 


-31 G 
609 


A  most  bloody  battle !  The  armies,  on  both  sides,  are  hand- 
t'uls  of  men.  These  are  battles  of  a  very  different  description 
from  those  of  the  Peninsula,  as  it  was  called.  General  Drurn- 
mond  complains  of  the  overwhelming  force  of  the  enemy.  How 
came  he  to  besiege  him  then  ?  It  was  a  sally,  observe,  on  the 
part  of  the  Americans ;  and  it  is  the  first  time  I  ever  heard  of  a  sal- 
lying party  being  stronger  than  the  army  besieging  them.  In  the 
teeth  of  facts  like  these,  the  malignant  ass  of  the  Times  newspaper 
has  the  impudence  to  say,  with  as  much  coolness  as  if  he  had 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  26? 

never  lieard  of  these  things :  "  A  peace  between  Great  Britain 
and  the  United  States'can  properly  be  made  no  where  but  in  Ame- 
rica. The  conferences  should  be  carried  on  at  New- York,  or 
Philadelphia,  having  previously  fixed  at  those  places  the  head- 
quarters of  a  Picton  or  a  Hill.1'  If  3Ir.  Madison  had  this  writer 
in  his  pay,  the  latter  could  not  serve  the  republican  cause  more 
effectually  than  he  is  now  doing.  On  Lake  Ontario,  our  newspa- 
pers now  say,  that  we  have  a  decided  superiority  of  force.  Very 
well.  Let  us  bear  that  in  mind.  Let  us  have  no  new  version* 
after  a  battle  shall  have  taken  place.  The  official  accounts  rela- 
tive to  the  affairs  at  Plattsburgh  and  Lake  Champlain,  are  the  most 
curious,  certainly,  that  ever  were  seen.  They  consist  of  a  mere 
account  of  the  number  of  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  up  to  the 
time  that  our  army  quitted,  or  was  about  to  quit,  Plattsburgh,  that 
is  to  say,  (mind  the  dates!}  up  to  the  fourteenth  of  September. 
Not  a  word  have  we  about  the  retreat  from  Plattsburgh,  nor  about 
the  battle  on  Lake  Champlain,  though  we  have  an  account  from 
Sir  George  Prevost,  dated  on  the  fourth  of  October.  Mark  that 
well.  The  despatch  is  said  to  have  been  dated  on  the  eleventh,  at 
Plattsburgh,  but  it  contains  the  account  of  the  losses  to  the  four- 
teenth !  Let  us  hear  the  apology  of  the  Times  newspaper : 
"  The  return  from  the  sixth  to  the  fourteenth  of  September  being 
enclosed  in  the  despatch  bearing  date  the  eleventh,  is  easily  ac- 
counted for,  from  the  circumstance  of  that  despatch  not  having 
been  made  up  for  some  time  after.  Although  despatches  have 
arrived  of  a  later  date  from  Sir  George  Prevost,  none  have  been 
received  containing  any  account  of  his  retreat.  Private  letters, 
however,  contradict  the  American  statements  of  precipitation  and 
embarrassment  in  Sir  George's  movements  oa  that  occasion.  The 
despatch  of  the  eleventh,  before  mentioned,  refers  to  the  action  on 
the  lake,  but  it  is  not  thought  proper  to  publish  this  until  an  offi- 
cial account  of  the  action  reaches  the  admiralty."  Very  well, 
now,  let  us  grant  that  it  would  not  be  proper  to  publish  Sir  George's 
account  of  the  action  on  the  lake,  though  it  was  such  a  lumping 
concern  as  to  require  but  little  nautical  skill  to  describe  it ;  yet 
here  is  no  reason  at  all  given  for  not  publishing  Sir  George's  ac- 
count of  his  own  retreat,  other  than  its  not  having  been  receivedt 
which  is  most  wonderful,  seeing  that  it  is  the  invariable  practice  to 
enclose  duplicates  and  triplicates  of  every  preceding  despatch, 
when  forces  are  at  such  a  distance.  How  came  Sir  George,  in 
his  despatch  of  the  4th  of  October,  not  to  send  a  duplicate  of  the 
account  of  his  retreat,  if  he  had  sent  that  account  before  ?  And, 
if  he  had  not  sent  it  before,  how  came  he  not  to  send  it  along  with 
his  despatch  of  the  4th  of  October?  The  solving  of  these  ques- 
tions will  be  very  good  amusement  for  the  winter  evenings  of 
Johnny  Bull,  who  was  so  anxious  "  to  give  the  Yankees  a  good 
drubbing"  and  who  thinks  nothing  at  all  of  the  property  tax 


£53  Letters  of  William  Cobbdl,  Esq. 

when  compared  with  so  desirable  an  object.  Reader,  pray  let 
me  bring  you  back  to  the  affair  of  Flattsbiirgh.  It  is  situated  on 
the  side  of  Luke  Champlaiii,  about  twenty-five  miles  within  the 
United  States.  There  is  a  fortress  near  it,  in  which  Jonathan 
had  1,500  regulars,  and  5  or  6,000  militia.  Against  this  fort,  and 
force.  Sir  George  Prevost,  with  14  or  15,000  men,  marched  early 
in  September,  the  fort  being  to  be  attacked  by  water  by  our  fleet 
at  the  same  time  that  our  army  attacked  it  by  land.  The  attack 
was  made,  but  the  American  fleet  came  up,  attacked  ours,  beat 
and  captured  the  whole  of  the  ships.  Sir  George  Prevost,  see- 
ing the  fate  of  the  fleet,  retreated  speedily  into  Canada,  was  fol- 
lowed, as  the  Americans  say,  by  their  army,  who  harassed  it,  took 
some  cannon,  a  great  quantity  of  stores,  and  many  prisoners,  and 
received  from  the  British  army  a  great  number  of  deserters,  who 
quitted  Sir  George  Prevost,  and  went  over  to  them.  This  is  the 
most  serious  part  of  the  subject;  and,  therefore,  as  the  Montreal 
newspapers  had  stated  that  we  lost  150  men  by  desertion,  as  the 
Americans  made  them  amount  to  a  great  many  hundreds ;  and 
as  Mr.  Whitbread,  in  the  debate  in  parliament,  a  few  days  ago, 
said  he  had  heard  that  they  amounted  to  2,000,  and  that,  too,  of 
Wellingtonians,  the  people  were  very  anxious  to  see  Sir  George 
Prevosfs  account  of  his  retreat.  The  ministers  said  that  Sir 
George  Prevost  had  said  nothing  about  desertion  ;  and  that,  of 
course,  he  would  have  mentioned  it  if  it  had  been  true.  But  the 
Time*  newspaper  now  tells  us  that  Sir  George  has  sent  no  account 
ef  his  retreat ;  or,  at  least,  that  none  has  been  received.  Accord- 
ing to  the  ministers,  Sir  George's  account  has  been  received,  and 
no  mention  is  made  in  it  of  desertion.  According  to  the  Times, 
Sir  George's  account  has  not  been  received.  We  must  believe 
the  ministers,  of  course,  and  must  set  the  Times  down  for  a  pro- 
mulgator  of  wilful  falsehoods.  But,  then,  there  is  a  rub  left ;  if 
the  account  of  the  retreat  is  come,  WHr  NOT  PUBLISH  IT  ?  This 
is  another  riddle,  Johnny  Bullr  for  your  winter  evenings'  amuse- 
ment. The  attack  of  our  forces  on  Mobile,  furnishes  a  new  feature 
to  the  war.  We  have  before  seen  the  two  parties  engaged,  frit 
gate  to  frigate,  brig  to  brig,  sloop  to  sloop,  and,  in  two  instances, 
fleet  to  fleet.  We  have  seen  them  on  land,  alternately  besieged 
and  besieging.  We  now  see  the  Americans  in  a  fort,  containing 
only  138  men,  attacked  by  a  combined  naval  and  military  arma- 
ment ;  as  to  the  result  of  which,  after  describing  the  scene  of  ac- 
tion, we  must,  for  the  present,  take  their  own  official  account. 
Point  Mobile  is  situated  on  the  main  land,  on  the  border  of  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  not  far  from  the  mouth  of  the  great  river  Mis- 
sissippi. On  this  point  is  a  fort,  called  Fort  Bowyer,  belonging 
to  the  republican  enemy,  to  the  attack  of  which  our  squadron  pro- 
ceeded in  September  last.  [Here  follow  the  American  official 
accounts.] 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  259 

I  extract  these  articles  from  the  Times  newspaper ;  and  yet,  in 
the  face  of  these  facts,  in  defiance  of  these  red-hot  balls,  the 
consummate  ass  would  make  no  peace,  except  at  New-  York  or 
Philadelphia,  they  being  first  the  head-quarters  of  a  Picton  or  a 
H ill !  This  is  as  good  a  lift  as  this  writer  could  have  given  to  Mr. 
Madison,  and  as  hard  a  blow  as  he  could  have  given  to  the  noblesse 
of  Massachusetts,  on  whom  he  and  the  rest  of  our  war  tribe  had 
built,  and  do  still  build,  their  hopes  of  ultimate  success.  Let  them 
look  at  the  attitude  of  New-York  and  Philadelphia.  I  do  not  say 
lhat  it  is  impossible  to  get  at  either  of  those  cities,  with  bomb-shells 
or  rockets ;  but  I  am  quite  satisfied,  that  it  would  require  a  very 
large  army  to  set  foot  in  either  of  them,  even  for  the  purpose  of 
burning  and  then  quitting  them,  in  safety.  I  will  now  make  an 
observation  or  two  with  regard  to  public  opinion  as-  to  the  Ame- 
rican war.  People  are  disappointed.  The  continuance  of  the 
property  tax  pinches.  But  would  they  have  the  luxury  of 
war  without  paying  for  it  ?  No,  no ;  pay  they  must ;  or  they 
must  put  up  with  what  they  have  gotten,  and  see  the  stars  and 
stripes  waving  in  every  sea.  They  would  have  war.  War  was 
their  cry.  They  have  it,  and  they  must  pay  for  it. 


TO  THE  COSSACK  PRIESTHOOD  OF  THE  STATE  OF  MASSACHUSETTS. 

Gentlemen, 

I  PERCEIVE  that  there  were  held,  in  your  state,  and  at  your 
instigation,  and  under  your  guidance  and  ministry,  solemn  fasts 
and  thanksgivings  on  account  of  the  entrance  of  the  Cossacks 
into  Paris,  and  of  the  fall  of  Napoleon.  Hence,  I  perceive,  that 
you  are  called  the  Chaplains  of  ihe  Cossacks  ;  and  sometimes, 
the  Cossack  Priesthood.  That  you,  who  used  to  be  regarded  as 
some  of  the  best  men  in  your  republic,  and  the  purity  of  whose 
religious  motives  were  never  even  doubted,  should  have  exposed 
yourself  to  the  application  of  such  titles,  I  extremely  regret  to 
hear.  But  it  is  not  my  business  to  give  way  to  private  feelings 
upon  such  an  occasion.  It  is  for  me,  as  far  as  I  am  able,  and  as 
1  dare,  to  make  truth  known  to  the  world  ;  and  as  you,  in  this 
case,  appear  to  me  to  have  shown  a  more  decided  hostility  to 
truth  than  any  other  set  of  men  of  whom  I  have  heard,  not  ex- 
cepting the  editors  of  the  London  newspapers,  it  is  natural  for  me 
to  address  myself  to  you  upon  the  subject. 

The  religion,  of  which  you  profess  to  be  teachers,  is  the  Pres- 
byterian. I  believe,  that  there  are  three  or  four  sorts  of  Pres- 
byterian Christians.  To  which  of  these  sorts  you  belong,  or  whe- 
ther some  of  you  are  of  the  one  sort  and  some  of  each  of  the 
others,  I  know  not.  Nor  is  it  material ;  it  being  well  known,  that, 


260  Letters  of  William  Cobbeli,  Esq. 

substantially,  all  these  sorts  are  the  same,  and  that  the  religion  you 
profess  has  existed,  and  has  been  the  generally  prevailing  reli- 
gion in  the  four  eastern  states  of  the  republic,  where  there  has 
been  born  and  reared  up  an  industrious,  sober,  humane,  gentle, 
kind,  brave,  and  free  people,  distinguished  heretofore,  above  all 
others,  for  their  right  and  clear  understanding  of  the  principles  of 
liberty,  and  for  their  zeal  and  undaunted  resolution  in  her  cause. 
Whether  the  people  would  have  been  as  good,  better,  or  worse, 
without  the  religion  that  you  have  taught ;  whether,  discarding,  as 
is  the  manner  of  some  men,  all  mysteries,  and  believing  in  nothing 
the  truth  of  which  cannot  be  substantiated  by  undeniable  facts,  or 
by  incontrovertible  argument,  they  would  have  been  as  good,  bet- 
ter, or  worse,  than  they  are,  is  a  question,  which  I  will  not  meddle 
with.  But  you  will  excuse  me,  if  L  observe,  that,  while  this  can 
possibly  be  made  a  question  amongst  rational  men,  you,  who  re- 
ceive pay  for  your  teaching  of  religion,  ought  to  be  very  careful 
to  excite  no  doubt  in  the  minds  of  mankind  as  to  the  purity  of 
your  views,  or  the  sincerity  of  your  faith. 

Your  recent  conduct  does,  however,  appear  to  have  excited 
such  doubts  in  the  minds  of  your  countrymen.  In  my  mind  jt 
lias  done  more.  It  has  convinced  me  that  your  motives  are  any 
thing  rather  than  pure ;  and  that  your  professions  are  a  mere  pre- 
tence; a  trick  to  enable  you  to  live  without  labour  upon  the  earn- 
ings of  those  who  do  labour,  just  as  are  the  tricks  of  monks  and 
friars,  and  of  all  other  imposers  on  popular  credulity,  from  the 
golden-palmed  showman  of  the  lady  of  Loretto  down  to  the  lousy- 
cowled  consecrators  of  halfpenny  strings  of  beads,  and  the  itine- 
rant protestant  bawlers,  whose  harangues  are  wholly  incomprehen- 
sible, until  they  come  round  with  their  hat  to  collect  the  means  of 
recruiting  the  belly.  All  the  zeal  of  impostors  of  every  kind  ; 
all  their  calumnies  of  others  ;  all  their  innumerable  persecutions  of 
those  who  have  endeavoured  to  withdraw  the  people  from  their 
degrading  influence,  have  had  this  <£reat  end  in  view  :  to  extract 
and  secure  to  themselves  the  means  of  living  well,  without  labour, 
out  of  the  earnings  of  those  who  do  labour.  I  am  very  sorry  to 
ascribe  such  a  motive  to  you,  whose  forefathers  fled  1o  a  wilderness 
rather  than  violate  the  dictates  of  their  conscience  ;  but  truth  com- 
pels me  to  say,  that  you  appear  to  have  no  claim  to  an  exemption 
from  the  general  charge.  lret,  I  am  not  so  unjust  as  to  suppose, 
much  less  to  hold  forth  to  the  world,  that  all  the  priests  of  Mas- 
sachusetts are  of  this  description  ;  but,  as  I  find  no  accounr  of 
any  protest,  on  the  part  of  any  of  the  priests,  against  the  odious 
and  detestable  celebrations  and  fasts  before  mentioned,  I  shall 
stand  fully  justified  for  not  making  any  particular  exceptions.  If 
any  of  the  priests  of  Massachusetts  feel  sore  under  the  appella- 
tion which  I  have  given  them,  they  ought  to  direct  their  resent- 
ment against  those  whose  conduct  has  brought  it  upon  them,  and. 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  261 

not  against  me,  unless  they  are  able  to  show  that  I  charge  them 
uujustly. 

Had  you,  indeed,  confined  your  thanksgivings  to  the  release  of 
certain  countries  of  Europe  from  the  arms  of  an  invader,  a  con- 
queror, an  oppressor,  an  ambitious  despot,  who,  instead  of  giving 
liberty,  added  to  the  civil  sufferings  of  some  of  the  nations  whom 
he  overran,  having  first  extinguished  republican  government,  and 
along  with  it  political  liberty  in  France,  where  the  people  had  put 
power  into  his  hands  to  be  used  in  the  cause  of  freedom.  Had 
you  held  solemn  thanksgivings  on  account  of  the  triumph  of  the 
Cossacks,  and  their  associates,  in  the  cause  of  the  civil  and  poli- 
tical independence  of  nations,  you  would  not  have  excited  indig- 
nation in  the  breast  of  any  reasonable  man  ;  for,  though  some  men 
would  have  differed  with  you  in  opinion  upon  that  point ;  though 
some  men  would  have  said,  as  some  men  thought,  that  the  con- 
queror could  not  long  have  held  under  his  sway  so  extensive  an 
empire  as  he  was  grasping;  that,  in  a  few  years,  the  several  coun- 
tries of  which  it  was  composed,  beginning  with  France,  would,  in 
all  human  probability,  throw  off  his  yoke,  and  form  themselves  into 
independent  states,  freed  from  all  his,  as  well  as  all  former  shackles ; 
and  that,  thus,  he  would,  in  the  end,  be  found  to  have  been  instru- 
mental in  establishing  liberty,  civil  as  well  as  religious,  in  every 
part  of  Europe  where  it  did  not  before  exist ;  though  some  men 
would  have  said  this,  and  would,  of  course,  not  have  joined  you 
in  your  thanksgivings  for  the  victories  of  the  Cossacks,  no  just 
and  considerate  man  could  have  censured  you,  so  long  as  you  con- 
fined your  thanksgivings  to  the  aforementioned  objects.  But 
when,  in  your  prayers  and  sermons,  you  called  the  Cossacks,  and 
others  engaged  on  the  same  side,  "  the  bulwark  of  your  religion  ,-" 
when,  with  the  Reverend  Mr.  PARISH  at  your  head,  you  called 
Napoleon  anti-Christ,  and  bawled  out  songs  of  praise  to  the  Cos- 
sacks and  their  associates  for  pulling  him  down ;  and  especially 
when  you  maliciously  threw  on  your  political  opponents  the  charge 
of  being  the  abettors  of  anti-Christ ;  then  you  excited  the  indig- 
nation of  all  those  who  did  not  turn  with  disgust  from  your  horrid 
ejaculations  and  harangues. 

If  there  was  one  trait,  above  all  others,  by  which  your  ser- 
mons and  prayers,  until  of  late  years,  were  characterized,  it  was 
by  your  zealous,  your  violent,  not  to  say  foul-mouthed  attacks  on 
the  Romish  Pontiff,  faith,  and  worship.  You  had  no  scruple  to 
represent  the  pope  as  anti-Christ,  and  as  the  scarlet  whore  of 
Babylon,  covered  with  abominations.  Horn  clearly  did  you  prove 
that  he  was  the  beast  of  the  revelations  ;  that  he  had  made  the 
world  drunk  with  his  fornications  ;  that  his  seven  heads  were  the 
seven  hills  on  which  Rome  is  situated  ;  his  ten  horns  the  ten  prin- 
cipal Catholic  sovereigns  of  Europe ;  and  that  his  colour  was 
ernrlet,  because  it  was  dyed  in  the  blood  of  the  saints  ?  Was  there 


262  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

a  sermon,  was  there  a  prayer,  that  issued  from  your  lips,  in  which 
you  did  not  call  on  the  Lord  for  vengeance  on  this  "  man  of  sin" 
and  in  which  you  did  not  describe  the  Catholic  religion  as  idola- 
trous, blasphemous,  diabolical,  and  as  evidently  tending  to  the 
eternal  damnation  of  millions  and  millions  of  precious  souls? 

Every  one  who  shall  read  what  I  am  now  writing,  must  acknow- 
ledge, that  this  description  of  your  conduct,  in  regard  to  the 
Romish  church,  is  far  short  of  the  mark.  What,  then,  have  you 
now  to  say  in  justification  of  your  recent  conduct  ?  Where  is  your 
justification  for  your  violent  attacks  on  Napoleon  and  his  family, 
to  say  nothing,  at  present,  of  your  thanksgivings  for  the  restora- 
tion of  the  ancient  order  of  things,  or,  in  your  own  language,  "  the 
ancient  and  venerable  institutions  ?"  Where  is  your  justification 
for  your  attacks  on  the  Buonapartes  ?  Others,  indeed,  might  con- 
sistently attack  them.  Such  as  thought  thai  the  church  of  Rome 
and  her  power  were  good  things  ;  or,  such  as  regarded  one  religion 
as  good  as  another,  might  consistently  attack  Buonaparte.  But 
you  !  you,  who  professed  the  opinions  above  described  ;  how  can 
you  apologize  to  the  world,  and  to  your  abused  flocks,  for  the 
part  which  you  have  taken  against  him  ? 

The  case,  with  regard  to  you,  stands  thus :  There  was,  before 
Buonaparte's  power  commenced,  existing  in  Europe  a  system  of 
religion,  or,  as  you  called  it,  irreligion,  having  at  the  huad  of  it 
a  Sovereign  Pontiff,  with  innumerable  Cardinals,  Bishops,  Vicars- 
General,  Abbots,  Priors,  Monks,  Friars,  Secular  Priests,  £c.  &c. 
under  him.  To  (his  body  you  ascribed  false  doctrines,  tricks, 
frauds,  and  cruelties  without  end.  You  charged  them  wifh  the 
propagation  of  idolatry  and  blasphemy  ;  with  keeping  the  people 
in  ignorance  ;  with  nourishing  superstition;  with  blowing  the  flames 
of  persecution  ;  with  daily  murdering,  in  the  most  horrid  manner, 
the  martyrs  to  the  true  faith.  The  Sovereign  Pontiff  himself, 
the  corner-stone  of  the  whole  body,  you  constantly  called  anti- 
Christ,  the  Scarlet  Whore,  the  Beast,  and  the  Man  of  Sin. 
And  you  prayed  most  vehemently  for  his  overthrow,  insisting 
that  the  system,  of  which  he  was  the  foundation,  manifestly  tended 
to  the  eternal  damnation  of  the  souls  of  the  far  greater  part  of  the 
people  of  Europe. 

Well!  Napoleon  arose.  He  hurled  down  the  pope;  he  over- 
threw the  anti-Christ,  the  Scarlet  Whore,  the  Beast,  the  Man 
of  Sin,  and  with  him  all  the  long  list  of  persecutors  of  the  saints. 
Napoleon  and  his  associates  did,  in  three  years,  what  your  prayers 
and  preachings  had  not  been  able  to  effect  in  three  centuries. 
The  pope  was  stripped  of  all  temporal  power ;  the  cardinals  and 
bishops  were  reduced  to  mere  ciphers ;  the  monks  were  driven 
from  their  dens  of  laziness  and  debauchery  ;  the  tricks  and  frauds 
were  exposed;  the  adored  images  were  turned  into  firewood; 
the  holy  relics  were  laughed  at ;  the  light  of  truth  was  suffer- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbeti,  Esq.  263 

ed  freely  to  beam  upon  the  minds  of  tbe  people ;  religious  perse- 
cution was  put  an  end  to ;  and  all  rnen  were  not  only  permitted, 
but  also  encouraged,  openly  to  profess,  pursue,  and  enjoy,  what- 
ever species  of  religious  faith  and  worship  they  chose.  Every 
man  became  eligible  to  offices,  trusts,  and  honours ;  and,  through- 
out the  domains  of  Italy  and  France,  where  a  Presbyterian  would 
have  been  tied  to  a  stake  and  roasted  rather  than  be  suffered  to 
fill  an  office  of  trust,  or  to  preach  to  a  congregation,  religious 
liberty  was,  under  Napoleon,  made  as  perfect  as  in  Pennsylvania, 
and  more  perfect  than  in  your  state  of  Massachusetts. 

These  are  facts  which  none  of  you,  not  even  Mr.  Parish,  will 
dare  openly  to  deny.  They  are  as  notorious  as  they  will  be,  and 
ought  to  be,  memorable. 

Ought  you  not,  therefore,  to  have  rejoiced  at  this  wonderful 
change  in  favour  of  religious  liberty  ?  How  could  you  see  fifty 
millions  of  souls  set  free  without  feeling  it  impossible  to  suppress 
an  expression  of  your  pleasure  ?  How  could  you  see  the  fall  of 
anti-Christ  without  putting  up  thanksgiving  to  that  God  to  whom 
you  had  so  long  been  praying,  whom  you  had  so  long  been  wor- 
rying with  your  importunities,  for  the  accomplishment  of  that  ob- 
ject ?  Was  not  this  an  event  calculated  to  call  forth  your  grati- 
tude to  Heaven?  Ought  it  not  to  have  been  expected  from  you, 
that  you  should  speak  very  cautiously  in  disapprobation  of  Napo- 
leon and  the  French  republicans,  who  had  effected  what  you  bad 
so  long  been  praying  for,  apparently,  in  vain  ?  Ought  you  not,  if 
you  had  spoken  at  all  of  the  sins  of  his  ambition  ;  if  you  had  blamed 
him  as  an  invader,  a  conqueror,  a  destroyer  of  republican  freedom ; 
to  have  touched  him  with  a  tender  hand,  considering  the  immense 
benefits  which  religious  liberty  had  received  in  consequence  of 
his  invasions  and  conquests  ?  Ought  he  not  to  have  found  in  you, 
above  all  men  living,  if  not  impartial  judges,  at  least,  mild  and 
moderate  censors  ? 

If  this  was  what  might  naturally  and  justly  have  been  expected 
from  you,  what  must  have  been  the  surprise  and  indignation  of 
those  who  saw  you  amongst  the  very  fiercest  of  Napoleon's  foes  ; 
amongst  the  foulest  of  his  calumniators ;  amongst  the  first  and 
loudest  of  those  who  rejoiced  at  his  fall ;  who  saw  you  holding 
solemn  fasts  and  thanksgivings  for  his  overthrow;  who  heard  you 
hail  with  holy  rapture  the  return  of  "  the  ancient  order  of  things," 
and  the  re-establishment  of  the  "  venerable  institutions"  of  Eu- 
rope ;  who  heard  you  joining  in  the  hosannas  of  the  monks,  sty  line; 
the  Cossacks,  and  their  associates,  "  bulwarks  of  religion," 
"  deliverers"  and  "  saviours;"  who  heard  you,  in  the  words  of 
Mr.  PARISH,  shifting,  from  the  pope  to  Napoleon  himself,  the  im- 
putation of  being  anti-Christ,  and  charging  your  political  oppo- 
nents with  being  the  abetters  of  that  "  Scarlet  Whore,"  that 
"  Man  of  Sin  !"  What  must  have  been  the  surprise  and  iridigna- 


264  Letters  of  William  Cobbett, 

tion  of  those  who  were  the  witnesses  of  your  conduct  upon  this 
memorable  occasion  ?  How  you  may  stand,  at  this  time,  in  tho 
estimation  of  your  flocks,  it  is  impossible  for  rne  to  know  j  but  it 
you  still  preserve  your  former  weight  and  consequence,  I  must 
say  that  you  exhibit  an  instance  of  success,  of  which,  in  an  en- 
lightened country,  no  former  set  of  impostors  ever  had  to  boast. 

IV hat  rcas  that  "  ancient  order  of  things,"  the  return  of  which 
you  hailed  with  such  rapture  ?  What  were  those  "  venerable 
institutions,"  of  which  you  thanked  the  Lord  for  the  approaching 
re-establishment  1  The  holy  see  of  Rome  was  one,  and  the  inqui- 
sition was  another.  Thousands  of  subaltern  "  venerable  institu- 
tions," naturally  followed  in  the  train  of  these  ;  such  as  the  Vir- 
gin Mary's  house  at  Loretto  ;  the  shrine  of  Saint  Anthony ;  the 
holy  cross  ;  the  exhibition  of  Saint  Catherine's  Wheel,  of  the 
Holy  Thorn  that  penetrated  Christ's  cheek,  of  the  Breeches 
of  Saint  Polomo,  so  efficacious  with  barren  wives,  especially 
by  a  lusty  monk.  Hundreds  and  thousands  of  thousands 
of  these  "  venerable"  things,  naturally  followed  the  overthrow  of 
him  who  had  overthrown  them.  All  (he  persecutions  of  the 
Protestants;  all  the  frauds,  insolence,  and  cruelty,  of  the  Romish 
priests  must  have  been  in  your  view.  You  are  not  ignorant  men. 
On  the  contrary,  you  are  some  of  the  most  cunning  even  of  priests. 
Ypu  knew  to  a  moral  certainty  that  the  pope,  whom  you  had  for- 
merly led  your  flocks  to  believe  was  anti-Christ,  would  be  re- 
stored. You  knew  that,  instead  of  a  milder  sway,  he  would 
naturally  be  more  rigid  than  ever  in  the  exercise  of  his  power. 
All  this  you  knew.  You  knew  that  the  toleration  of  all  Protes- 
tant sects,  the  encouragement  of  them,  the  free  use  of  reason  on 
religious  subjects,  and  the  free  circulation  of  religious  opinions, 
which  were  so  complete  under  Napoleon,  would  be  instantly  de- 
stroyed in  the  far  greater  part  of  Europe.  And  yet  you  held  a 
solemn  thanksgiving  to  God  that  Napoleon  had  been  overthrown, 
and  you  had  the  impious  hypocrisy  to  call  his  enemies  "  the  bul- 
warks of  religion ;"  you;  aye,  you,  whose  fathers  fled  to  a  wilder- 
ness across  the  sea,  rather  than  live  where  they  were  not  permit- 
ted openly  to  denounce  as  damnable  the  remnants  which  the 
church  of  England  had  preserved  of  that  very  religion  of  which 
the  enemies  of  Napoleon  were  the  bulwark,  and  which  you  now 
thanked  God  for  the  prospect  of  seeing  restored. 

The  Holy  Father,  whom  you  formerly  called  the  "  Scarlet 
Whore,"  dyed  in  the  blood  of  the  saints  ;  the  "  Beast,"  as  you 
used  to  call  him,  whose  "  mouth  was  full  of  blasphemies,"  re- 
mounted his  chair  even  before  "  the  Most  Christian  King"  got 
upon  his  throne.  One  of  his  first  acts  was  to  restore  the  Jesuits, 
that  "  ancient  and  venerable  institution,"  which  hat!  become  so 
odious,  on  account  of  its  wicked  acts,  that  it  had  been  abolished 
by  all  the  princes  of  Europe,  and  even  by  a  former  pope  himself. 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  265 

The  next  remarkable  step  was  the  re-establishment  of  the  Inqui- 
sition in  Spain,  where  it  had  been  abolished  by  Napoleon  on  the 
day  that  he  took  possession  of  the  government  of  that  country ; 
and,  what  is  worthy  of  particular  notice,  though  perfectly  natural, 
"  Ferdinand  the  beloved,"  in  his  ordinance,  dated  23d  July  last, 
for  the  re-establishment  of  that  horrid  tribunal,  makes  use  of 
almost  your  very  language,  in  reproaching  Napoleon  with  its 
abolition,  as  you  will  see  by  the  ordinance  itself,  annexed  to  this 
letter. 

You  yourselves  well  know  what  that  tribunal  was ;  but,  as  some 
of  the  good  people,  whom  you  have  deceived,  may  not  know  the 
precise  nature  of  that  "  venerable  institution,"  which  Napoleon 
abolished,  and  which  has  been  restored  in  consequence  of  the 
successes  of  your  "  bulwarks  of  religion,"  I  will  here  insert  an 
account  of  it  from  the  last  edition  of  the  Kncyclopedite  Britannica, 
referring  your  flocks  to  Mr  Dobson's  greatly  improved  Philadel- 
phia edition,  that  they  may  verify  the  correctness  of  the  extract, 
which  they  will  find  under  the  words  "  Inquisition"  and  "  Act  of 
Faith"  as  follows : 

"  INQUISITION.— In  the  church  of  Rome,  a  tribunal,  in 
several  Roman  Catholic  countries,  erected  by  the  popes  for  the 
examination  and  punishment  of  heretics.    This  court  was  founded, 
in  the  twelfth  century,  by  Father  Dominic,  and  his  followers,  who 
were  sent  by  Pope  Innocent  III.,  with  orders  to  excite  the  Catho- 
lic princes  and  people  to  extirpate  heretics,  to  search  into  their 
number  and  quality,  and  to  transmit  a  faithful  account  thereof  to 
Rome.     Hence   they  were   called    inquisitors ;   and    this   gave 
birth  to  the  formidable  tribunal  of  the  inquisition,   which  was 
received  in  all   Italy,  and  the  dominions  of  Spain,  except  the 
kingdom  of  Naples  and  the  Low   Countries.     This  dicibolical 
tribunal  takes  cognizance  of  Heresy,   Judaism,  Mahometanism, 
Sodomy,  and  Polygamy ;  and  the  people  stand  in  so  much  fear 
of  it,  that  parents  deliver  up  their  children,  husbands  their  wives, 
and  masters  their  servants,  to  its  officers,  without  daring,  in  the 
least,  to  murmur.      The  prisoners  are  kept  for  a  long  time,  till 
they  themselves  turn  their  own  accusers,  and  declare  the  cause 
of  their  imprisonment ;  for   they  are  neither  told  their    crime, 
nor  confronted  with  witnesses.      As  soon  as  they  are  imprisoned 
their  friends  go  into  mourning,   and  speak  of  them  as  dead,   not 
daring  to  solicit  their  pardon,  lest  they  should  be  brought  in  as 
accomplices.     When  there  is  no  shadow  of  proof  against  the  pre- 
tended criminal,  he  is  discharged,  after  suffering  the  most  cruel 
tortures,  a  tedious  and  dreadful  imprisonment,  and  the  loss  of  the 
greatest  part  of  his  effects.      The  sentence  against  the  prisoners 
is  pronounced  publicly,  and  with  the  greatest  solemnity.     In  Por- 
tugal, they  erect  a  theatre  capable  of  holding  3,000  persons,  in 
which  they  place  a  rich  altar,  and  raise  seats  on  *ach  side  in  the 

34 


266  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esf/, 

form  of  an  amphitheatre.  There  the  prisoners  are  placed  ;  and, 
over  against  them  is  a  high  chair,  whither  they  are  called,  one  by 
by  one,  to  hear  their  doom  from  one  of  the  inquisitors.  These 
unhappy  people  know  what  they  are  to  suffer  by  the  clothes  they 
wear  that  day.  Those  who  appear  in  their  own  clothes  are  dis- 
charged, upon  payment  of  a  fine  ;  those  who  have  a  santo  benito, 
or  strait  yellow  coat  without  sleeves,  charged  with  St.  Andrew's 
cross,  have  their  lives,  but  forfeit  all  their  effects  ;  those  who  have 
the  resemblance  of  flames,  made  of  red  serge,  sewed  upon  their 
santo  benito,  without  any  cross,  are  pardoned,  but  threatened  to 
be  burnt  if  ever  they  relapse ;  but  those  who,  besides  these 
flames,  have  on  their  sanio  benito  their  own  picture,  surrounded 
with  figures  of  devils,  are  condemned  to  expire  in  the  flames. 
The  inquisitors,  who  are  ecclesiastics,  do  not  pronounce  the  sen- 
tence of  death  ;  but  form  and  read  an  act,  in  which  they  say 
that  the  criminal  being  convicted  of  such  a  crime,  by  his  own  con- 
fession, is,  with  much  reluctance,  delivered  to  the  secular  power, 
to  be  punished  according  to  his  demerits ;  and  this  writing  they 
give  to  the  seven  judges,  who  attend  at  the  right  side  of  the  altar, 
who  immediately  pass  sentence." 

4i  ACT  OF" FAITH. — In  the  Romish  church,  fs  a  solemn 
day,  held  by  the  inquisition  for  the  punishment  of  heretics,  and  the 
absolution  of  the  innocent  accused.  They  usually  contrive  the 
Auto  to  fall  on  some  great  festival,  that  the  execution  may  pass 
witli  the  more  awe  and  regard  ;  at  least  it  is  always  on  a  Sunday.  » 
The  Auto  da  Fe,  or  Act  of  Faith,  may  be  called  the  last  act  of 
the  inquisitorial  tragedy  ;  it  is  a  kind  of  gaol-delivery,  appointed  as 
oft  as  a  competent  number  of  prisoners  in  the  inquisition  are  con- 
victed of  heresy,  either  by  their  own  voluntary,  or  extorted  confes- 
sion, or  on  the  evidence  of  certain  witnesses.  The  process  is 
thus :  In  the  morning  they  are  brought  into  a  great  hall,  where 
they  have  certain  habits  put  on,  which  they  are  to  wear  in  the 
precession.  The  procession  is  led  up  by  Dominican  friars  ;  after 
which  come  the  penitents,  some  with  san-benitoes,  and  some  with- 
out, according  to  the  nature  of  the  crimes ;  being  all  in  black  coats 
without  sleeves,  and  barefooted,  with  a  wax  candle  in  their  hands. 
These  are  followed  by  the  penitents  who  have  narrowly  escaped 
being  burnt,  who,  over  their  black  coats,  have  flames  painted,  with 
their  points  turned  downwards,  Fuego  revolto.  Next  come  the 
negative  and  rebpsed,  who  are  to  be  burnt,  having  flames  on  their 
habits  pointing  upwards.  After  these  come  such  as  profess  doc- 
trines contrary  to  the  faith  of  Rome,  who,  besides  flames  pointing 
upwards,  have  their  picture  painted  on  their  breasts,  with  dogs, 
serpents,  and  devils,  all  open  mouthed,  about  it.  Each  prisoner 
is  attended  with  a  familiar  of  the  inquisition  ;  and  those  to  be  burnt 
hi've  also  a  Jesuit  on  each  hand,  who  is  continually  preaching  to 
them  to  abjure.  After  the  prisoners,  come  a  troop  of  familiars  on 


Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq.  267 

horseback,  and  after  them  the  inquisitors,  and  other  officers  of  the 
court,  on  mules ;  last  of  all,  the  inquisitor  general,  on  a  white  horse, 
led  by  two  men  with  black  hats  and  green  hatbands.     A  scaffold 
is  erected  in  the  Teniero  de  Pacs,  big  enough  for  two  or  three 
thousand  people ;  at  one  end  of  which  are  the  prisoners,  at  the 
other  the  inquisitors.     After  a  sermon,  made  up  of  encomiums  of 
the  inquisition,  and  invectives  against  heretics,  a  priest  ascends  a 
desk  near  the  middle  of  the  scaffold,  and  having  taken  the  abjura- 
tion of  the  penitents,  recites  the  final  sentence  of  those  who  are  to 
be  put  to  death ;  and  delivers  them  to  the  secular  arm,  earnestly 
beseeching,  at  the  same  time,  the  secular  power  not  to  touch  their 
blood,  or  put  their  lives  in  danger.     The  prisoners  being  thus  in 
the  hands  of  the  civil  magistrate,  are  presently  loaded  with  chains, 
and  carried  first  to  the  secular  gaol,  and  from  thence,  in  an  hour 
or  two,  brought  before  the  civil  judge ;  who,  after  asking  in  what 
religion  they  intend  to  die,  pronounces  sentence  on  such  as  declare 
they  die  in  the  communion  of  Rome,  that  they  shall  be  first  stran- 
gled, and  then  burnt  to  ashes ;  on  such  as  die  in  any  other  faith, 
that  they  be  burnt  alive.      Both  are  immediately  carried  to  the 
Ribera,  the  place  of  execution,  where  there  are  as  many  stakes 
set  up  as  there  are  prisoners  to  be  burnt,  with  a  quantity  of  dry 
furze  about  them.     The  stakes  of  the  professed,  that  is,  such  as 
persist  in  their  heresy,  are  about  four  yards  high,  having  a  small 
board  towards  the  top  for  the  prisoner  to  be  seated  on.     The  ne- 
gative and  relapsed  being  first  strangled  and  burnt,  the  professed 
mount  their  stakes  by  a  ladder;  and  the  Jesuits,  after  several  re- 
peated exhortations  to  be  reconciled  to  the  church,  part  with  them, 
telling  them  they  leave  them  to  the  devil,  who  is  standing  at  theip 
elbow  to  receive  their  souls  and  carry  them  with  him  into  the 
flames  of  hell.     On  this  a  great  shout  is  raised,  and  the  cry  is,  Let 
ike  dogs'  beards  be  made ;    which  is  done  by  thrusting  flaming 
furzes  fastened  to  long  poles  against  their  faces,  till  their  faces  are 
burnt  to  a  coal,  which  is  accompanied  with  the  loudest  acclama- 
tions of  joy.     At  last,  fire  is  set  to  the  furze  at  the  bottom  of  the 
stake,  over  which  the  professed  are  chained  so  high,  that  the  top 
of  the  flame  seldom  reaches  higher  than  the  board  they  sit  on  ;  so 
that  they  rather  seem  roasted  than  burnt.      There  cannot  be  a 
more  lamentable  spectacle ;    the    sufferers  continually  cry  out, 
while  they  are  able,  misericorda  per  amor  de  Dios.      '  Pity  for 
the  love  of  God  !*  yet  it  is  beheld  by  all  sexes  and  ages  with  trans- 
ports of  joy  and  satisfaction." 

People  of  Massachusetts!  Sons  of  Englishmen,  who  fled  to  a 
wilderness,  who  sacrificed  their  dearest  connexions  to  religious 
liberty!  Merciful,  humane,  gentle,  kind,  and  brave  people  of 
Massachusetts,  though  your  Cossack  priests  can  view  with  dry 
eyes  and  unmoved  muscles  this  horrid  spectacle,  does  it  not  chill 
lite  blood  in  your  veins  ?  Though  they,  with  holy  impudence,  can 


268  Letters  of  William  Cobbeit, 

put  up  thanksgivings  for  the  fall  of  him  by  whom  this  «  venerable 
institution'1  had  been  overthrown,  and  of  whose  fall  its  revival  was 
a  natural,  if  not  certain,  consequence  ;  do  not  your  hearts  revolt' 
at  the  iinpiousness,  the  baseness,  the  cruelty,  of  the  sentiment? 

People  of  Massachusetts,  (for  to  your  hardened  priests  will  I  no 
longer  address  myself,)  what  can  have  been  the  real  cause  of  this 
conduct  on  the  part  of  your  priests  ?  In  the  people  of  England  it 
was  very  natural  and  reasonabb  to  rejoice  at  the  fall  of  Napoleon. 
He  had  immense  power ;  he  was  near  them ;  he  had  threatened 
to  invade  their  country  ;  he  had  made  preparations  for  so  doing* 
It  was,  therefore,  natural  for  them  to  rejoice  at  his  fall  ;  but  even 
here,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  hypocrites,  despised  by  persons 
of  sense,  of  all  parties,  people  did  not  rejoice  at  his  fall  as  an  ene- 
my of  religion.  Had  your  priests  not  put  up  thanksgivings  for 
the  deliverance  of  religion,  their  conduct  might  have  been  passed 
over  j  but  when  they  made  that  the  ground  of  their  gratitude  to  the 
Cossacks  and  to  Heaven,  they  invited  the  lash  of  censure  ;  they 
called  aloud  for  the  detestation  of  mankind. 

While,  indeed,  the  French  nation  seemed  to  have  thrown  aside 
nit  rdigion  whatever  ;  while  they  were  setting  aside  all  the  me- 
morials and  marks  of  the  Christian  era;  while  they  were  appa- 
rently all  atheists,  there  wag  some  reason  for  your  priests  to  wish 
their  overthrow.  Even  in  that  case,  however,  they  would  have 
shown  more  confidence  in  Christianity,  if  they  had  been  less  bitter 
against  the  French.  Some  men  thought  that  their  extreme  aspe- 
rity against  such  writers  as  Paine,  seemed  not  to  say  that  they 
possessed  ability  to  defeat  him  in  the  field  of  argument ;  and,  indeed, 
seemed  to  argue  that  they  did  not  feel  a  sufficient  degree  of  confi- 
dence in  the  goodness  of  their  cause  itself;  for,  if  they  had  been 
thoroughly  convinced,  as  they  ought  to  have  been,  that  the  Chris* 
tian  religion  was  built  upon  a  rock,  and  that  the  gates  of  hell  would 
never  prevail  against  it,  Paine  would  have  been  an  object  of  their 
pity  rather  than  of  their  persecAilion.  Their  anger  against  him 
was  madness,  unless  they  apprehended  danger  from  his  attempts ; 
and  if  they  did  apprehend  danger  from  those  attempts,  they 
showed  a  want  of  sufficient  confidence  in  their  cause  itself,  which 
want  of  confidence  should  have  taught  them  moderation  in  their 
attacks  on  the  adversary.  There  was  a  great  outcry  about  atheism 
in  France  ;  but  what  was  it,  after  all,  but  letting  the  human  mind 
loose,  to  range  at  pleasure  ?  When  every  man  was  at  liberty  to 
say  what  he  liked,  who  need  have  been  in  fear  for  the  cause  of 
truth?  He  who  was  an  insincere  Christian;  he  who  doubled  ot 
the  truth  of  Christianity  ;  he  who  thought  it  false,  but  who  pro- 
fessed it  from  interested  motives,  had  reason  to  rail  against  the 
innovators  ;  but  he  who  was  a  real  believer,  and  whose  belief  was 
founded  on  the  conclusions  of  reason,  could  not  possibly  have  any 
ground  for  alarm,  seeing  that  freedom  of  discussion  is,  and  eter- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  269 

nally  must  be,  favourable  to  truth;  and,  of  course,  hostile  to 
error  and  falsehood.  Those,  therefore,  who  are  opposed  to  free- 
dom of  discussion,  on  any  subject,  and  who  make  use  of  clamours, 
slanders,  or  force,  to  prevent  it,  may,  in  all  cases,  and  acting 
under  whatever  pretence,  be  safely  considered  as  wishing  to 
sustain  error  or  falsehood. 

B;it  these  observations  do  not  apply  to  the  case  of  the  emperor 
Napoleon.  However  just  the  hatred  of  your  priests  against  the 
atheists  of  France,  there  was  no  portion  of  that  hatred  due  to 
him  who  re-opened  the  churches,  who  invited  the  performance 
of  religious  worship,  who  encouraged  the  people  to  make  provi- 
sion for  the  maintenance  of  the  parochial  clergy,  who  went  very 
regularly  to  hear  mass  himself;  but  who,  at  the  same  time,  ef- 
fectually prevented  all  religious  persecution ;  who  countenanced 
and  encouraged  all  religious  sects  ;  who  put  them  all  upon  a 
footing  of  civil  and  political  equality ;  and  who,  throughout  his 
vast  dominions,  was  speedily  introducing  such  a  system,  as  to  re- 
ligion, as  must,  in  a  few  years,  have  inevitably  rooted  out  every 
fibre  of  superstition,  and  have  put  an  end  for  ever  to  that  spirit 
of  persecution,  which  had  so  long  been  filling  Europe  with  misery 
ana  crimes. 

Be  he,  therefore,  what  he  might,  in  other  respects,  he  had 
been,  and  he  was,  a  friend  and  protector  of  religious  freedom. 
This  quality,  one  would  have  thought,  was  that  which,  above  all 
others,  ought  to  have  pleaded  in  his  behalf  with  your  priests ; 
yet  thej  rejoiced  at  his  fall ;  they  hailed  his  enemies  as  the 
"  bulwarks  of  religion  ;"  they  put  up  thanksgivings  for  the  re- 
storation of  the  u  venerable  institutions"  which  he  had  pulled 
down ;  and  they  even  called  him  "  anti-Christ,"  the  appellation 
which  they  had  formerly  given  to  the  pope. 

Let  your  priests  say  what  they  will  of  the  French  republicans?, 
and  of  Napoleon,  the  world  are  witnesses  to  the  fact,  that,  even 
though  a  counter-revolution  has  taken  place  in  France,  that  coun- 
try has  derived  immense  advantages  from  the  revolution ;  that 
she  is  now  freed  from  numerous  oppressions  before  endured  ;  thai 
her  agriculture  has  made  astonishing  progress ;  that  she  has  got 
rid  of  her  feudal  tyrannies,  her  monks,  her  tythes  ;  that  her 
farmers  are  now  able  to  undersell  ours  in  our  own  markets  ;  that 
her  manufactures  are  greatly  increased  ;  and  that,  as  yet,  her 
king  has  not  ventured  to  overthrow  Napoleon's  laws,  securing  to 
all  men  perfect  religious  liberty,  and  an  equality  as  to  all  matters 
connected  with  religious  worship  and  the  public  capacities  of  the 
professors  of  different  religions.  Nothing  could  be  a  greater 
compliment  to  Napoleon,  than  the  stipulation  with  the  king  that 
NAPOLEON'S  CODE,  civil  and  religious,  should  remain 
untouched. 

What  ground,  then,  could  your  priests  have  for  their  implacable 


S70  Letters  of  William  C'olbeli,  Esq. 

hatred  of  Napoleon  ?  Why  did  they  put  up  thanksgivings  for  his 
overthrow?  Why  did  tkey  call  the  Cossacks  and  iLeir  associates 
tie  "  bulwarks  of  religion  ?"  Why  did  they  call  him  the  oppressor 
of  Spain,  who  had  abolished  the  inquisition,  and  hud  driven  the 
monks  from  their  convents  and  their  luxury  ?  What  could  have  been 
the  cause  of  their  being  amongst  his  calumniators  1  How  came  they 
to  join  in  the  prayers  and  thanksgivings  of  the  Jesuits  and  Domi- 
nicans ?  The  truth  is,  they  were  actuated  by  self  interest ;  they 
were  alarmed  at  the  consequences  to  which  freedom  of  discussion 
might  lead.  The  sudden  overthrow  of  the  old  establishments  of 
Europe ;  the  great  shock  which  the  French  revolution  gave  to 
long-received  opinions  ;  tiie  burst  of  light  which  had  come  into 
the  human  mind  ;  these  alarmed  ihem.  They  began  to  fear  that, 
if  religion  became  out  of  fashion  in  Europe,  it  might  become  out 
of  fashion  in  Massachusetts,  and  leave  them  in  a  situation  like 
that  of  the  buc isle-makers,  when  shoe-strings  came  in  vogue. 
They  now  began  to  perceive,  that  the  fall  of  the  pope,  and  of  the 
Romish  superstition  and  persecutions,  would  be  to  them  a  vast 
injury.  They  saw  that  (he  French  and  Napoleon  were  snatching 
the  very  bread  and  meat  off  their  plates.  This  was  the  true 
cause  of  their  hostility  against  him  ;  this  was  the  true  cause  of 
their  thanksgivings  for  the  victories  of  the  Cossacks  and  their  as- 
sociates, as  the  "  bulwarks  of  religion  ;"  that  is  to  say,  the  bul- 
warks of  their  bread  and  meat ;  the  bulwark  of  their  living  well 
without  labour  on  the  earnings  of  you,  who  pay  Ihem,  and  who 
do  labour.  The  same  motive  would,  of  course,  have  induced 
them  to  abuse  the  pullers-down  of  Mahomet.  Nor  must  they  be 
surprised  if  the  world  should  suspect  that,  in  a  similar  cause, 
they  would  have  made,  if  they  could,  a  solemn  league  and  cove- 
nant with  the  devil  himself,  and  have  called  him  the  "  Bulwark  of 
Jfyligion.9* 

If  this  conclusion  against  the  Cossack  priests  of  Massachusetts 
were  not  obviously  deducible  from  their  above  describe'!  conduct, 
unsupported  by  any  otiier  fact ;  if  any  other  proof  were  wanted, 
you  have  that  proof  in  their  electioneering  tricks  of  last  year, 
when,  amongst  their  objections  to  the  electing  of  a  rep.iblican,  or, 
as  they  termed  it,  democratic  legislature,  they  complained  of  a 
former  democratic  legislature  in  these  memorable  words :  *'  They 
impaired  the  constitutional  provision  for  tfie  support  of  a  public 
worship,  by  releasing  the  disaffected  from  contriouiing  to  the  sup- 
port of  permanent  teachers  of  piety,  religion,  and  morality."* 

*  Note.  All  religions  were  always  tolerated  in  Massachusetts:  but  there  was  a 
law,  before  the  republicans  got  the  uppcrliar.il,  to  oblige  every  person  to  contribute 
to  the  maintenance  of  public  protestant  -worship,  to  lih  uion  teacherst  if  lie  had 
any ;  if  he  ],a<!  none  of  his  own,  to  the  priest  of  t/te  parisli  wherein  he  resided. 
The  republicans  appear  to  have  left  every  ina;\  free  to  pay  to  any  sect,  or  to  no 
»ect  at  nil,  as  the  j'isf.  ami  wise  William  Penn  left  the  matter  in  Pennsylvania. 
This  \vas  the  crime  of  the  republicans,  in  the  eyes  of  the  priests  of  MaseafihupeUa. 
Whether1  the  federalists  have  since  saddled  the  people  with  a  tax  on  account 'ef  re- 
ligion, I  know  not. 


Letters  of  William  Cobbdt,  Esq. 

That  is  to  say,  they  complained  of  the  "  democrats"  for  having 
endeavoured  to  make  Massachusetts,  in  point  of  religious  liberty, 
what  WILLIAM  PENN  made  Pennsylvania,  and  what  Napoleon 
had  made,  as  nearly  as  he  possibly  could,  France  and  Italy,  and 
all  the  countries  which  he  had  conquered.  Here  we  see  the 
REAL  ground  of  the  hostility  of  your  priests  lo  the  French  re- 
publicans, to  Napoleon,  and  to  the  republican  party  in  America. 
They  had  long  enjoyed  the  benefices  of  a  sort  of  established  and 
dominant  church;  they  had  long  been  receiving  compulsory  pay- 
ments for  their  support  ;  they  had  long  felt  the  agreeable  effects 
of  this  "  venerable  institution."  The  example  of  France,  and 
the  practical  effect  thereof  in  America,  had  shaken  their  hold  of 
valuable  possession  ;  and  hence,  and  hence  alone,  their  abuse  of 
the  French  and  Napoleon  ;  their  dread  of  the  continuance  of  his 
power ;  their  exultation  at  his  overthrow  ;  and  their  thanksgivings 
tor  the  restoration  of  those  "  venerable  institutions"  in  Europe ; 
those  ecclesiastical  powers  and  profits,  which  kept  their  own  in 
countenance,  and  of  which  the  French  and  Napoleon  had  been 
the  determined  enemies. 

No  more  need  be  said.  You,  the  people  of  Massachusetts, 
who  possess  so  much  good  sense,  who  have  so  often  exercised 
that  good  sense  as  to  other  persons  and  things,  cannot  long  re- 
main the  dupes  of  these  hypocrites,  who,  while  they  have  the 
desire  of  your  welfare  in  the  next  world  constantly  on  their  lips, 
are  manifestly  intent  upon  securing  to  themselves,  in  this  world, 
*?ase  and  plenty,  at  the  public  expense. 

W»I.    COBBETT. 


POSTSCRIPT. 

THE  following  is  the  decree  of  the  king  of  Spain,  re-establish- 
ing the  inquisition,  published  in  a  supplement  to  the  Madrid  Ga- 
zette, 23d  July,  1814: 

"  The  King  our  Lord  has  been  pleased  to  enact  the  following 
decree.  The  glorious  title  of  Catholic,  by  which  the  kings  of 
Spain  are  distinguished  among  the  other  Christian  princes,  because 
they  do  not  tolerate  in  their  kingdom  any  one  rvho  professed 
another  religion  than  the  Catholic,  Apostolic,  and  Roman,  has 
powerfully  excited  my  heart  to  employ  all  the  means  which  God 
Las  placed  in  my  hands,  in  order  to  make  myself  worthy  of  it. 
The  past  troubles  and  war  which  afflicted  all  the  provinces  of  the 
kingdom,  during  the  space  of  six  years  ;  the  residence  therein, 
during  that  time,  of  foreign  troops  of  different  sects,  almost  all  in- 
fected with  abhorrence  and  hatred  to  the  Catholic  religion  ;  and 
the  disorder  that  these  evils  always  bring  with  them,  together 
with  the  little  care  which  was  taken,  for  some  time,  in  providing 
for  what  concerned  the  things  of  religion,  gave  to  the  wicked  UB- 


272  Letters  of  William  Cobbeit,  Esq. 

limited  license  (o  live  after  their  free  will,  and  to  introduce  in  this 
kingdom,  and  fix  in  many  persons,  pernicious  opinions,  by  the 
same  means  with  which  they  had  been  propagated  in  other  coun- 
tries :  Desiring,  therefore,  to  provide  a  remedy  against  so  great 
an  evil,  and  preserve  in  my  dominions  the  holy  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ,  which  my  people  love,  and  in  which  they  have  lived  and 
do  live  h..ppily,  both  by  the  duty  which  the  fundamental  laws  of 
the  kingdom  impose  on  the  prince  which  shall  reign  over  it,  and 
I  have  sworn  to  observe  and  fulfil,  as  likewise  being  the  most 
proper  means  to  preserve  my  subjects  from  intestine  dissentions, 
and  maintain  them  in  peace  and  tranquillity,  I  have  thought  it 
would  be  very  convenient,  in  the  present  circumstances,  that  the 
tribunal  of  the  Holy  Office  should  return  to  the  exercise  of  its 
jurisdiction  :  Upon  which  subject  wise  and  virtuous  prelates,  and 
many  corporations  and  serious  persons,  both  ecclesiastical  and 
secular,  have  represented  to  me,  that  it  was  owing  to  this  tribunal 
that  Spain  was  not  contaminated,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  with 
the  errors  that  caused  so  much  affliction  in  other  kingdoms,  the 
nation  flourishing  at  that  time  in  all  kinds  of  literature,  in  great 
men,  in  holiness  and  virtue :  And  that  one  of  the  principal 
means  employed  by  the  oppressor  of  Europe,  in  order  to  sow 
corruption  and  discord,  from  which  he  derived  so  many  advan- 
tages, was  to  destroy  it,  under  pretence  that  Ihe  light  of  the  age 
could  not  bear  its  continuance  any  longer  ;  and  which,  afterwards, 
the  self-styled  general  cortes,  with  the  same  pretence,  and  that 
of  the  constitution,  which  they  had  tumultuously  framed,  annulled, 
to  the  great  sorrow  of  the  nation.  Wherefore,  ihey  have  ardently 
requested  me  to  re-establish  that  tribunal ;  and,  according  to  their 
requests,  and  the  wishes  of  the  people,  who,  from  love  to  the  reli- 
gion of  their  fathers,  have  restored,  of  their  own  accord,  some 
of  the  subaltern  tribunals  to  their  functions,  I  have  resolved,  that 
the  Council  of  the  Inquisition,  and  the  other  tribunals  of  the 
Holy  Office,  should  be  restored  and  continued  in  the  exercise  of 
their  jurisdiction,  both  ecclesiastical,  which,  at  the  request  of  my 
august  predecessors,  the  pontiffs  gave  to  it,  and  the  royal,  which 
the  kings  granted  to  it,  observing,  in  the  exercise  of  both,  the 
ordinances  by  which  they  were  governed  in  1808,  and  the  laws 
and  provisions,  which,  to  avoid  certain  abuses,  and  moderate 
some  privileges,  it  was  mete  to  take  at  different  times  As, 
besides  these  provisions,  it  may,  perhaps,  be  suitable  to  adopt 
other;  and  my  intention  being  to  improve  this  establishment,  thai 
the  greatest  utility  may  arise  to  my  subjects  from  it,  1  wish  that, 
as  soon  as  the  Council  of  the  Inquisition  shall  meet,  two  of  its 
members,  with  two  others  of  my  Royal  Council,  both  of  which 
I  shall  nominate,  should  examine  the  form  and  mode  of  proceed- 
ing in  the  causes  appertaining  to  the  Holy  Office,  and  the  method 
established  for  the  censure  and  prohibition  of  books  ;  and  if  there 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  2r2 

should  be  found  any  thing  in  it  contrary  to  the  good  of  my  sub- 
jects, and  the  upright  administration  of  justice,  or  that  ought  to 
-be  altered,  it  shall  be  proposed  to  me,  that  I  may  determine  what 
shall  be  proper.  This  is  communicated  for  your  information,  and 
of  whom  it  may  concern. 

"  Palace ,  21s/  July,  1814. 

"THE  KING. 

«•"  To  Don  Pedro  de  JIacanaz." 


th-c  Knights,  Grand  Crosses,  Commanders  and  Companion? 
of  the  Orders  of  the  BULWARK  and  the  HENR1ADE, 
lately  assembled  in  full  Chapter,  at  HARTFORD,  in  New 
England. 

Gentlemen, 

As  your  occupation  appears  to  have  been  suddenly  put 
&n  end  to  by  the  peace,  which  our  government  has  had  the  wis- 
dom to  make  with  yours,  it  may  amuse  and  please  you  to  be  in- 
formed how  the  glorious  work  of  deliverance  proceeds  in  Europe. 
I  was  highly  delighted  to  perceive,  that  you  were  very  careful  to 
avail  yourselves  of  the  aid  of  the  Cossack  Priesthood,  during 
your  late  deliberations.  The  long  prayers,  which  it  was  resolved 
those  gentry  should  put  up,  two  or  three  times  a  day,  was  not  the 
least  interesting  part  of  your  measures.  It  must  glad  your  hearts 
to  hear,  that  the  pope,  the  Jesuits,  all  the  monks  (except  in  disor- 
ganised France)  have  been  not  only  delivers!,  but  fully  re-estab- 
lished by  Ihe  efforts  of  the  BULWARK;  and  that,  in  Spain, 
the  HOLY  INQUISITION  has  been  so  completely  delivered 
-•  from  \h&u  fAl.gnup"  as  Mr.  RANDOLPH  calls  it.  of  Napoleon, 
that  it  is  now  under  the  paternal  sway  of  "  Ferdinand  the  belov- 
fd,"  in  full  vigour  of  operation  for  (he  support  of  "  social  order, 
and  of  ancient  and  "  venerable  establishments."  In  this  opera- 
tion it  has  laid  hold  of — who,  think  you?  Why  of  those  men  who, 
for  several  years,  were  fighting  and  writing  for  u  Ferdinand  the 
beloved  ;"  that  is  to  say,  for  the  BULWARK,  against  the  de- 
stroyer of  venerable  institutions.  Some  of  these  "  patriots,"  as 
they  were  called,  having  taken  refuge  in  our  fortress  of  Gibraltar, 
have  been  given  up  by  our  governor  to  the  beloved  Ferdinand, 
whose  government  has  sent  one  of  them  to  work  in  the  galleys  for 
ten  years.  Another  of  them  has  escaped  to  England,  where  his 
cause  has  been  espoused  by  Mr.  WHITBKEAD,  who,  though  not  a 
BULWARK  man,  seems  to  have  been  applied  to  by  this  BUL- 
WARK Spaniard  in  preference  to  the  government  here,  though 
ace  would  have  thought  that  he  would  fly  to  his  old  friends  (o  be 

3.5 


274  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq< 

received  with  open  arms.  Mr.  WHITBREAD  has  made  several 
very  eloquent  speeches  upon  (he  subject;  but,  to  say  the  trutii> 
they  have  produced  but  little  effect  upon  me,  and  this  for  twa 
reasons  :  First,  these  bulwark  men  fought  and  wrote  for  Ferdi- 
nand; they  called  every  one  a  traitor  arid  a  miscreant,  who  did  not 
wish  for  the  restoration  of  the  ancient  family,  the  venerable  insti- 
tutions. In  the  course  of  their  proceedings,  they  levelled  their 
swords  and  their  pens  against  the  lives  of  all  those,  who  wished 
not  to  be  delivered ;  they  drew  forth  (he  sweat  and  blood  of  their 
country  against  him  who  had  put  down  the  monks  and  the  inquisi- 
tion ;  they  persecuted  every  man  who  acted  as  if  he  dreaded  the 
deliverance  of  Spain.  In  their  turn  they  are  persecuted ;  they 
are  sent  to  jails  and  galleys;  and  you  will  please  to  observe,  that 
(hey  suffer  this  from  those  for  whom  they  had  fought,  in  whose 
behalf  they  had  persecuted  others,  and  are  delivered  up,  too,  by 
an  English  governor.  I  think,  may  it  please  your  knighthoods, 
that  this  is  as  suitable,  as  fit,  as  exemplary,  as  any  human  occurrence 
can  well  be.  My  other  reason  for  taking  little  interest  in  the  fate 
of  these  men,  is,  that  I  feel  more  for  persons  in  our  English, 
Scotch,  and  Irish  jails.  The  patriot  who  is  sent  to  the  galleys,  was 
charged  with  the  crime  of  LIBEL.  He,  it  is  acknowledged, 
wrote  a  letter  to  the  beloved  Ferdinand,  advising  him  to  adopt  a 
new  government  in  Spain ;  that  is  to  say,  to  consent  to  a  revolu- 
tion, that  horrid  thing,  which  is  so  contrary  to  those  ancient  and 
venerable  institutions,  to  restore  which  so  much  blood  and  money 
has  been  expended ;  and  for  the  restoration  of  which  you  have  so 
long  and  so  fervently  prayed  through  the  nose,  with  your  eyes 
turned  up  towards  the  ceiling.  Now,  while  there  are  so  many 
men  in  our  jails  for  writing  libels ;  while  I  recollect  that  so  many 
gentlemen  were  sent  from  Scotland  to  Botany  Bay,  on  the  charge 
of  attempting  a  revolution  in  our  government ;  and  while  I  hear 
no  word  from  Mr.  WHITBREAD  in  their  behalf,  that  gentleman 
must  excuse  me,  if  I  am  very  little  moved  by  his  eloquence,  great 
as  it  is,  in  behalf  of  these  Spaniards.  There  is  a  Mr.  LOVELL 
who  has  been  in  our  jail  of  Newgate  about  four  years  and  a  half. 
His  offences  were  copying  a  short  paragraph  from  a  country  pa- 
per relative  to  the  operation  of  the  PROPERTY  TAX,  and  publish- 
ing another  paragraph,  or  letter,  relative  to  the  conduct  of  the 
transport  board  towards  French  prisoners  of  war.  He  might  be 
in  error  in  both  instances  ;  but  his  affidavits  showed,  that  he  was 
the  author  of  neither  publication  ;  that  he  copied  one,  inadver- 
tently, from  a  country  newspaper,  and  that  he  did  not  examine 
the  other  with  sufficient  care.  He  was  sentenced  to  eighteen 
months  imprisonment  for  each,  and  was^mee?  besides  ;  and  he  is 
now  in  jail,  where  he  has  been  for  a  year  and  a  half,  wanting  ability 
to  pay  his  fines.  Mr.  HOUSTON  is  suffering  two  years  imprison- 
ouent  and  fine  for  a  book  on  religion.  Away,  then,  with  the  com- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  2F5 

plaints  of  Don  Carrea  and  Don  Puigblanc,  and  all  the  dons  in  the 
universe,  till  Mr.  Lovell  and  Mr.  Houston,  and  others,  find  some- 
body to  fed  and  to  speak  for  them.     It  will  vex  you  very  much 
to  know  that  the  French  revolution  has  produced  remarkably  be- 
neficial consequences  to  the  country.     It  is  now  acknowledged, 
and  even   proclaimed,  by  our  bulwark  newspapers^  that  France 
has  greatly   improved  in  agriculture,  during  what  is  called  her 
state  of  disorganisation^  though  we  were  told  by  these  same 
newspapers,   and  by  our  insipid  hireling  Mr.  WALSH,  that  Na- 
poleon had  left  none  but  old  men,  women  and   children,  to  cul- 
tivate the  land.     These  poor,  feeble  creatures  have  got  the  land 
into  such  a  fine  state,  that  we  are  compelled  to  resort  to  a  law  to 
protect  our  farmers  against  their  corn,  in  which  article  they  under- 
sell us  in  our  own  markets.     The  truth  is  that,  in  addition  to  this 
great  improvement  in  the  state  of  France,  the  bulwark  war  has 
left  us  a  load  of  taxes,  which  the  land  cannot  pay  without  high 
.prices.     The  petitions,  which  have  been  presented  in  favour  of 
this  law,  tell  us,  or,  rather,  tell  the  parliament,  that  our  farmers 
cannot  sell  so  cheap  as  those  who  pay  no  tythes,  poor-rates,  and,, 
comparatively,  very  little  in  taxes  of  any  sort.     What  is  this  but 
attacking  tythes,  one  of  the  most  ancient  and  venerable  institu- 
tions in  the  whole  world  !  and  these  are  bulwark  men,  too,  who  pe- 
tition in  these  terms !  In  France  they  have  not  been  able  to  restore 
tythes ;  or,  in  your  language,  to  deliver  the  country  from  the  want  of 
tythes.     They  have  not  been   able  to  restore  the  gabelles,  the 
corvees,  the  feudal  courts,  laws  and  rights,  nor  have  they  yet  seen 
a  monk  in  France  since  the  days  of  Brissot.     They  have  put  up 
the  Bourbons ;  but  they  have  not  put  down  the  code  Napoleon. 
At  the  same  time    I   am  reminded  of  an  occurrence   that  will 
give  yon  both  pleasure  and  pain  :  I   mean  the  attempt  to  assassi- 
nate Napoleon  by  the  hand  of  some  hired  villain.     It  will  give  you 
pleasure  that  a  villain  has  been  found  to  attempt   the  deed,  and 
pain  to  know  that  it  has  not  succeeded.     Your  manifesto  has  exci- 
ted a  great  deal  of  anger  in  our  bulwark  newspapers,  one  of  which 
observes,  that  it  was  "  hoped  and  expected,  that  the  Hartford  de- 
legates would  have  declared  a  separation  of  the  union  at  once." 
On  the  other  hand,  you  are  held  in  the  utmost  contempt.     You 
had  courage  to  menace,  but  not  enough  to  strike.     If  any  of  you 
were,  however,  to  do  here  what  you  have  actually  done'm  Ameri- 
ca ;  that  is,  to  endeavour  to  overawe  the  king  and  parliament,  you 
would   be    hanged,   have  your  bowels  ripped  out  and   flung  in 
your  faces ;  have   your  bodies  cut  in  quarters,  and  the  quarters 

placed  at  the  king*s  disposal. How  foolish  that  would  raakr 

henriade  men  look ! 

Yours  to  command, 

WIJJJAM  COBBFtT, 
Bolley,  22cl  February,  18rs. 


2 T6  Letters  of  William  Cobbdt,  Esq. 


TO  THE  EAKL  OF  LIVERPOOL—ON  THE  AMERICAN  WAR, 

My  Lord, 

FROM  the  report  of  your  speech  on  fhe  eighth  inslant,  it  ap- 
pears very  clearly  that  your  lordship  is,  by  the  reporter,  made  to 
entertain  an  opinion  that  the  DIVISIONS  amongst  the  American 
people  are  already  such  that  we  may  rationally  hope,  by  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  war*  to  produce  a  compliance  with  any  conditions, 
or  an  overthrow  of  the  union,  in  which  union  alone  consists  the 
strength  and  prospect  of  future  greatness  in  that  rising  and  fast- 
growing  republic.  The  words,  as  given  in  the  report  of  your 
speech,  were  these :  "  He  (the  earl  of  Liverpool)  had  seen  much 
stronger  justifications  of  the  conduct  of  our  forces  at  Washington, 
which  had  been  published  in  America,  than  any  that  had  been 
published  even  in  this  country.  Not  only  were  they  not  more 
hostile  to  us,  but  the  reverse  was  the  case.  In  places,  even 
where  the  British  arms  had  been  successful,  the  people  had  shown 
themselves  in  our  favour,  and  had  seemed  well  disposed  to  put 
themselves  under  our  protection."  Your  lordship  is  not  singular 
in  your  opinion,  if  it  be  your  opinion.  It  is  the  general  opinion  in 
this  country.  How  that  opinion  had  been  created  and  kept  alive, 
I  will  not  now  inquire.  The  means  made  use  of  for  this  purpose, 
the  "  most  thinking  people"  know  nothing  of.  They  have  opi- 
nions furnished  them  by  others,  as  regularly  as  soldiers  or  sailors 
are  served  with  rations.  The  lower  class  are,  from  their  poverty, 
wholly  without  the  pale  of  information,  true  or  false,  and  appear  to 
know  arid  care  as  little  about  the  acts  of  the  government,  and  the 
state  of  public  affairs,  as  the  earth,  or  any  other  substance,  on 
which  they  expend  their  time  and  their  physical  force.  The  middle 
class  are  so  incessantly  employed  in  pursuit  of  the  means  "of 
keeping  themselves  from  the  horrors  of  pauperism,  that  they  have 
no  time  for  discussion  or  inquiry.  Many  persons,  in  this  class  of 
life,  have  asked  me  whether  the  Americans  could  speak  English. 
Few  men  in  the  higher  ranks  of  life  know  any  thing  worth  speak- 
ing of,  with  regard  to  the  American  republic,  a  nation  nearly  equal 
in  population  to  Great  Britain,  and  inhabited,  as  we  now  feel,  by 
men  full  as  enterprising  and  as  brave  as  our'own  soldiers  and  sailors. 
Even  the  writers  who  have  fanned  the  flame  of  this  bloody  war, 
know  nothing  at  all  about  the  real  state  of  America ;  .for  though 
they  have  no  desire  to  promulgate  truth ;  though  it  is  their  trade 
to  deceive  and  cheat  the  people  ;  they  show  by  their  statements 
that  they  are  ignorant  of  facts,  which,  if  they  knew  them,  would 
make  them  able  to  deceive  with  less  exposure  to  detection.  This 
being  the  caae,  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  whole  nation  is  in  a  state  of 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  277 

error,  as  to  this  matter  of  primary  importance.  On  the  day  when 
the  news  reached  the  country,  relative  to  the  capture  of  the  city 
of  Washington,  I  happened  to  call,  on  my  way  homewards  from 
Sussex,  at  the  house  of  a  gentjernan,  who  was  as  likely  to  be  as 
well  informed  as  any  other  gentleman  in  the  country,  as  to  this  or 
any  other  political  matter.  The  following  was  the  dialogue, 
wherein  I  shall  exhibit  the  gentleman  and  his  good  wife  under  the 
name  of  Friend : 

Mrs.  Friend.  Well,  Mr.  Cobbett,  we  shall  soon  get  rid  of  the 
income  tax  [for  so  it  is  called  in  the  country]  now. 

Mr.  Cobbett.  Shall  we,  madam  '?  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  it. 
It  will  enable  me  to  get  a  better  horse  for  my  gig.  [She  had  just 
been  laughing  at  my  scurvy  equipage.]  But,  why  now,  madam? 
What  has  happened  to  excite  such  a  cheering  hope  ? 

Mrs.  Friend.     Why,  have  you  not  heard  the  news  ? 

iVIr.  Cobbett.     No.  " 

Mr.  Friend.     We  have  taken  the  capital  of  America. 

Mrs.  Friend.  And  (he  cowardly  dogs,  to  the  amount  of  9,000 
men,  ran  away  before  1,500  of  our  soldiers. 

Mr.  Friend.  President,  and  all,  ran  away !  Nobody  knows 
where  they  went  to,  and  the  people  were  ready  to  submit  to  us  all 
over  the  country. 

Mrs.  Friind.  Cowardly  dogs!  Nut  stand  to  fight  a  moment 
for  their  capital.  They  are  a  pretty  nation  to  go  to  war  with 
England  ! 

Mr.  Friend.  They  ran  away  like  a  great  flock  of  South- down 
sheep  before  a  pack  of  hounds. 

Mrs.  Friend.  The  cowardly  creatures  will  never  dare  show 
their  faces  again.  What  can  you  say  for  these  Americans  now  ? 

Mr.  Cobbett.  Why,  I  say  that  you  appear  to  know  no  more 
about  them  than  about  the  people  said  to  be  in  the  moon.  Let 
me  look  at  the  paper.  [It  lay  before  her  on  the  table.] 

Mrs.  Friend.  No :  we  must  tell  it  you.  It  is  too  long  for  you 
to  sit  and  read  to  yourself. 

Mr.  Cobbett.  Well,  now  mind,  I  tell  you  that,  instead  of  put- 
ting an  end  to  the  war,  this  event  will  tend  to  prolong  it ;  and 
mind,  I  tell  you,  that  unless  me  give  up  what  we  contend  for,  the 
war  will  be  of  many  years'  duration,  and  will  be  as  expensive,  and 
more  bloody,  than  the  war  in  Europe  has  been. 

Mr.  Friend.     WE  give  up  to  such  cowards  as  the  Americans? 

Mr.  Cobbett.  I  do  not  mean  to  give  up  either  territory  or  ho- 
nour. I  mean,  give  up  the  point  in  dispute;  or,  rather,  our  pre- 
sent apparent  object.  The  Americans,  like  other  people,  cannot 
meet  disciplined  armies  until  they  have  time  to  organize  and  disci 
pline  themselves.  But  the  Americans  are  not  cowards,  madam. 
Their  seamen  have  proved  that;  and,  what  I  fear  is,  that  a  con- 
tinuance of  the  war  will  make  the  proof  clearer  and  clearer  every 


278  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

day,  by  land  as  well  as  by  sea ;  and,  I  am  now  more  than  ever 
afraid  of  a  long  continuation  of  the  war;  because,  if  such  people 
as  you  seriously  think  that  we  are  able  to  conquer  America,  I 
can  have  no  reason  to  hope  that  any  part  of  the  nation  remains 
undeceived. 

Mr.  Friend.     But,  do  you  not  think  that  the  states  will  divide  ' 

Mr.  Cobbett.     Certainly  not. 

Mr.  Friend.     No ! 

Mr.  Cobbett.  No.  And  I  should  be  glad  to  know  what  are 
your  reasons  for  believing  that  they  will  divide.  If  you  will  give 
me  any  reasons  for  your  belief,  I  will  give  you  mine  for  a  con- 
trary belief.  Do  you  think,  inadam,  that  the  people  of  America 
are  weary  of  living  for  thirty  years  without  an  income  tax  ? 

Mr.  Friend.  I  have  no  reasons  of  my  own  about  the  matter. 
We  see,  in  all  our  papers,  that  the  Americans  are  a  very  divided 
people.  They  say  that  they  cannot  long  hold  together. 

Mr.  Cobbett.  And  do  you  really  believe  what  these  corrupted 
vagabonds  put  into  their  columns  ?  You  believed,  then,  of  course, 
that  "  the  American  navy  would  be  swept  from  the  face  of  the 
ocean  in  a  month  ;"  for  so  they  told  you.  Yet,  how  different 
has  been  the  events  !  No,  no ;  the  Americans  are  not  cowards, 
madam. 

Mrs.  Friend.  Have  you  had  such  heaps  of  lemons  this  year 
as  you  used  to  have  ? 

Such  was,  as  nearly  as  I  can  recollect,  the  dialogue  on  this 
occasion  ;  and,  as  I  am  sure  that  the  war  is  continued  in  the  hope, 
on  the  part  of  the  nation,  at  least,  of  deriving  success  from  a 
breaking  up  of  the  union  in  America,  which,  I  am  thoroughly 
persuaded,  we  shall  not  effect,  or  see  take  place,  I  will  endea- 
vour to  show  that  this,  my  persuasion,  rests  on  good  grounds  J 
and,  if  I  succeed  in  this  endeavour,  I  shall  not  yet  abandon  the 
hope,  to  which  my  heart  clings,  of  seeing  peace  speedily  restored 
between  the  two  countries,  upon  terms  not  injurious  to  the  inte- 
rest or  character  of  either. 

In  turning  back,  now,  to  the  reported  speech  of  your  lordship, 
I  perceive,  and  I  perceive  it  with  regret,  that  you  are,  by  the 
reporter,  made  to  found  your  opinion  of  the  American  disaffection 
to  their  government,  and  of  their  attachment  to  our  king,  in  part, 
upon  their  having  treated  our  officers,  prisoners  of  war,  with  great 
liberality  and  kindness.  I  noticed  this  in  my  last  number.  I 
challenged  any  one  to  show  the  instance  in  which  they  had  ever 
behaved  cruelly  to  prisoners  of  war.  I  cited  the  memorable  case 
of  Mr.  (now  Sir  Charles)  Asgyll,  and  I  appealed  to  their  uniform 
conduct,  during  the  present  war,  including  the  instances  of  Com- 
modores Bainbridge  and  Perry.  But  as  the  conduct  of  the 
former,  in  this  respect,  has  been  most  basely  slandered  in  some 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  279 

of  our  public  prints,  I  will  be  somewhat  more  particular  as  to  both 
instances,  adding  that  of  captain  Lawrence. 

Commodore  Bainbridge  captured  the  Java,  off  St.  Salvadore,  on 
the  29th  of  December,  1812.  His  frigate,  the  Constitution,  car- 
ried 44  guns,  and  ours  49  guns,  according  to  the  American  ac- 
counts. Ours,  he  says,  had  upwards  of  400  men  on  board.  The 
republicans  killed  60  and  wounded  170  of  our  ofiicers  and  men, 
and  had  themselves  9  killed  and  25  wounded.  After  the  battle, 
at  their  pressing  request,  Commodore  Bainbridge  paroled  them  all. 
The  Java  had  on  board  Lieutenant-General  Hislop  and  his  staff, 
together  with  several  supernumerary  officers  and  men.  The  fol- 
lowing letter  of  General  Hislop  to  Commodore  Bainbridge  will  best 
speak  for  the  latter : 

"  Dear  Sir, 

"  I  arn  justly  penetrated  with  the  fullest  sense  of  your 
very  handsome  and  kind  treatment,  ever  since  the  fate  of  war 
placed  me  in  your  power,  and  I  beg  once  more  to  renew  to  you 
my  sincerest  acknowledgments  for  the  same.  Your  acquiescence 
with  my  request  in  granting  me  my  parole,  with  the  officers  of 
my  staff,  added  to  the  obligation  I  had  previously  experienced, 
claims  from  me  this  additional  tribute  of  my  thanks.  May  I  now 
finally  flatter  myself,  that,  in  the  further  extension  of  your  generous 
and  humane  feelings  in  the  alleviation  of  the  misfortunes  of  war, 
you  will  have  the  goodness  to  fulfil  the  only  wish  and  request 
I  am  now  most  anxious  to  see  completed,  by  enlarging,  on  their 
parole,  (on  the  same  conditions  you  have  acceded  to  with  respect 
to  myself,)  all  the  officers  of  the  Java  still  on  board  your  ship ; 
a  favour  I  never  shall  cease  duly  to  appreciate  by  your  acquies- 
cence thereto. 

"I  have  the  honour  to  subscribe  myself,  dear  sir,  your  much 
obliged  and  very  obedient  servant." 

The  request  was  instantly  complied  with.  Men  and  all  were 
released  upon  parole. 

In  the  case  of  Commodore  Perry,  the  battle  was  fought  on 
Lake  Erie,  on  the  10th  of  September,  1813.  With  vessels  car- 
rying, altogether,  54  guns,  he  not  only  defeated,  but  captured, 
the  whole  of  our  fleet,  six  vessels,  carrying  65  guns,  as  he  stated 
in  his  official  report ;  which  report,  by  the  by,  fully  justifies  our 
admiralty  as  to  Lake  Erie.  I  take  the  following  paragraph  from 
his  report  to  his  government  upon  this  occasion  : 

"  I  also  beg  your  instructions  respecting  the  wounded.  I  am 
satisfied,  sir,  that  whatever  steps  I  might  take,  governed  by  hu- 
manity,  would  meet  your  approbation.  Under  this  impression, 
I  have  taken  upon  myself  to  promise  Captain  Barclay,  who  is  very 
dangerously  wounded,  that  he  shall  be  landed  as  near  Lake  On- 
tario as  possible ;  and  I  had  no  doubt  you  would  allow  me  to  pa- 
role him.  He  is  under  the  impression  that  nothing  but  leaving 


280  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

this  part  of  Ihe  country  will  save  Iris  life.  There  are  also  a 
number  of  Canadians  among  the  prisoners,  many  who  have  fa- 
milies." 

Captain  Lawrence,  in  the  brig  Hornet,  attacked  and, sunk,  in 
fifteen  minutes,  our  brig,  the  Peacock,  killing  between  thirty 
and  forty  of  our  men,  while  the  Hornet  had  only  one  man  killed, 
and  two  wounded.  Thus  says  the  American  report.  Ours  I 
have  not  at  hand.  Then  comes  the  following  letter  : 

"  New-York,  27th  March,  181.1. 

Sir, 

WE,  the  surviving  officers  of  his  Britannic  Majesty's  late 
brig  Peacock,  beg  leave  to  return  you  our  grateful  acknowledg- 
ments for  the  kind  attention  and  hospitality  we  experienced 
during  the  time  we  remained  on  board  the  United  States  sloop 
Hornet.  So  much  was  done  to  alleviate  the  distressing  and  un- 
comfortable situation  in  which  we  were  placed,  when  received  on 
board  the  sloop  you  command,  that  we  cannot  better  express  our 
feelings  than  by  saying,  "  We  ceased  to  consider  ourselves  prisbn- 
ers;"  and  every  thing  that  friendship  could  dictate  was  adopted 
by  you,  and  the  officers  of  the  Hornet,  to  remedy  the  inconve- 
nience we  would  otherwise  have  experienced  from  the  unavoidable 
loss  of  the  whole  of  our  property  and  clothes,  by  the  sudden  sink- 
ing of  the  Peacock.  Permit  us  then,  sir,  impressed,  as  we  are, 
with  a  grateful  sense  of  your  kindness,  for  ourselves  and  the  other 
officers  and  ship's  company,  to  return  you  and  the  officers  of  the 
Hornet  our  sincere  thanks,  which  we  shall  feel  obliged  if  you  will 
communicate  to  them  in  our  name  ;  and  believe  us  to  remain, 
with  a  high  sense  of  the  kind  offices  you  have  rendered  us,  your 
humble  servants, 

"  F.  A.   Wright,  First  Lieutenant. 

"  C.  Lambert,  Second  Lieutenant. 

"  Edward  Lotl,  Master. 

"  J.   Whitlaker,  Surgeon. 

"  jP.  Donnilhrone  Unwin,  Purser. 

"  James  Lawrence,  Esq.  commander  U.  S.  sloop  Hornet." 

The  American  papers  added,  upon  this  occasion,  the  follow- 
ing: 

"  It  is  a  fact  worthy  of  note,  and  in  the  highest  degree  honour- 
able to  our  brave  tars,  that,  on  the  day  succeeding  the  destruc- 
tion of  his  Britannic  majesty's  brig  Peacock,  the  crew  of  the 
Hornet  made  a  subscription,  and  supplied  the  prisoners  (who  had 
lost  almost  every  thing)  with  two  shirts,  a  bluejacket  and  trow- 
sers  each." 

Now,  my  lord,  without  going  into  more  particulars,  let  me  ask 
you,  whether  you  think  that  this  conduct  towards  our  officers  was 
the  effect  of  disaffection  towards  their  own  government,  of  disap- 
probation of  its  conduct,  of  a  hatred  of  the  war,  and  of  "  a  dispo- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  281 

sition  to  put  themselves  under  our  protection  ?"  And,  if  you 
answer  in  the  negative,  as  you  must,  I  suppose,  why  do  you 
think  that  the  humane  treatment  of  our  officers  elsewhere  indi- 
cates such  a  disposition  ?  Does  your  lordship  see  no  possible 
danger  in  drawing  such  an  inference  ?  Do  you  think  that  it  is 
wholly  out  of  all  belief,  that  your  being  reported  to  have  drawn 
such  an  inference  may  render  the  treatment  of  our  officers,  pri- 
soners of  war,  less  humane  and  kind  in  future  ?  Seeing  that  a 
disposition  in  an  American  citizen  to  put  himself  under  the  pro- 
tection of  our  king  is  a  disposition  to  commit  treason)  in  the  eye 
of  the  laws  of  his  country,  would  it  be  so  very  surprising  if,  in 
future,  the  Americans  should  be  very  cautious  how  they  exposed 
themselves  to  the  merit  of  such  a  compliment?  I  must,  however, 
do  your  lordship  the  justice  to  observe  here,  that  what  the  pro- 
prietors of  our  newspapers  have  published  as  your  speech,  might 
never  have  been  uttered  by  you.  I  would  fain  hope  that  they 
have,  in  this  case,  put  forth,  under  your  name,  the  suggestions 
of  their  own  minds.  I,  therefore,  comment  on  the  thing  as  theirs, 
and  not  as  yours. 

In  order  to  show  that  there  is  no  foundation  for  the  hope,  en- 
tertained by  people  here,  and  so  often  expressed  by  our  news- 
papers, of  dividing  the  republic  of  America,  I  must  go  into  a 
history  of  the  parties  which  exist  in  that  republic ;  give  an  ac- 
count of  their  origin  and  progress,  and  describe  their  present 
temper  and  relative  force.  The  population  is  divided  into  two 
parties ;  the  REPUBLICANS  and  the  FEDERALISTS,  The  latter 
also  claim  the  title  of  republicans,  but  it  is,  and  I  think  we  shalf 
find,  with  justice,  denied  to  them  by  the  former. 

These  two  parties  have,  in  fact,  existed  ever  since  the  close  of 
the  revolutionary  war,  though  their  animosities  have  never  ap- 
peared to  be  so  great,  nor  to  threaten  such  serious  consequences 
as  since  the  commencement  of  the  French  revolution,  especially 
since  the  first  presidency  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  whose  exaltation  to 
the  chair  was  the  proof  of  decided  triumph  on  the  part  of  the  re- 
publicans, and  plunged  their  opponents  into  a  state  of  despera- 
tion. 

Tbefederalists  took  their  name  from  the  general  governmenf, 
which,  be'mgfederative,  was  called/ederaf.  Some  of  the  people, 
as  well  as  some  of  the  members  of  the  convention  who  formed 
the  constitution,  were  for  the  new  general  government,  and  some 
were  against  it.  Those  who  were  against  it,  and  who  were  for  a 
government  of  a  still  more  dcmocratical  form,  were  called  at  first, 
anti-federalists  ;  but,  of  late,  they  have  been  called  republicans, 
in  opposition  to  the  federalists,  who  were  for  a  government  of  an 
aristocratical,  if  not  of  nearly  a  kingly  form,  and  who  proposed, 
in  the  convention,  a  president  and  senate  for  life.  There  was 
at  this  time  a  great  struggle  between  the  parties*— the  opposition 

36 


282  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

of  the  republicans  spoiled  (he  projects  of  the  federalists;  arid 
the  government  was  at  last,  of  a  form  and  nature,  which  was 
wholly  pleasing  to  neither,  but  did  not,  on  the  other  hand,  greatly 
displease  either. 

The  federalists,  however,  took  the  whole  credit  to  themselves 
of  having  formed  the  government ;  and  as  General  Washington, 
who  had  been  president  of  the  convention,  and  was  decidedly  for 
a  federative  general  government,  was  elected  the  president  under 
the  new  constitution,  the  federalists  at  once  assumed  that  they 
were  the  only  persons  who  had  any  right  or  title  to  have  any 
thing  to  do  with  that  government,  treating  their  opponents  as  per- 
sons necessarily  hostile  to,  and,  of  course,  unfit  to  be  entrusted 
with,  the  carrying  on  of  the  federal  government. 

When  the  first  congress  met,  under  the  new  constitution,  it  was 
clear  that  the  federalists  endeavoured  to  do  by  degrees,  that  which 
they  had  not  been  able  to  accomplish  all  at  once  in  the  convention. 
They  proposed  to  address  the  president  by  the  title  of  his  serene 
highness,  and  to  introduce  other  forms  and  trappings  of  royalty, 
or,  at  least,  of  a  high  aristocracy.  Their  intention  was  defeated,  to 
their  inexpressible  mortification.  The  people  were  shocked  at 
these  attempts ;  and  from  that  moment  the  opposite  party  seem 
to  have  gained  ground  in  the  confidence  of  the  people,  who  ab- 
horred the  idea  of  any  thing  that  bore  a  resemblance  to  kingly 
government,  or  that  seemed  to  make  the  slightest  approach  to- 
wards hereditary  or  family  rule. 

When  the  French  revolution  broke  out :  when  that  great  nation 
declared  itself  a  republic,  and  went  even  further  than  America 
had  gone  in  the  road  of  democracy,  the  two  parties  took  their 
different  sides.  Heats  and  animosities  were  revived.  While 
General  Washington  remained  president,  however,  he  acted  with 
so  much  caution  and  moderation,  that  it  was  difficult  for  any  one 
openly  to  censure  him.  He  was  blamed  by  both  parties.  One 
wished  him  to  take  part  with  France,  the  other  with  England. 
He  did  neither,  and,  upon  the  whole,  he  left  no  party  any  good 
reason  to  complain  of  him.  But  when  Mr.  Adams>  who  was  a 
native  of  Massachusetts,  where  the  federal  party  was  in  great 
force,  became  president,  he  certainly  did,  yielding  to  the  coun- 
sels of  weak  and  violent  men,  push  things  very  nearly  to  an  offen- 
sive and  defensive  alliance  with  us.  The  violent  and  unjust  pro- 
ceedings of  the  French  government  furnished  a  pretext  for  rais- 
ing an  army,  which  was,  for  some  time,  kept  on  foot  in  time  of 
peace,  in  the  very  teeth  of  the  constitution.  A  sedition  bill  was 
passed,  with  power  of  sending  aliens  out  of  the  country;  and 
many  other  things  were  done,  in  the  heat  of  the  moment^  which, 
Mr.  Adams,  had  he  not  been  surrounded  by  the  Massachusetts 
federalists,  never  would  have  thought  of,  being  a  republican  a': 
heart,  and  a  real  friend  to  the  liberties  of  his  country* 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  283 

Mr.  Adams's  presidency  ended  in  March,  1801.  He  was 
proposed  to  be  re-elected  ;  but  he  lost  his  election,  and  the  choice 
fell  upon  Mr.  Jefferson,  who  had  always  been  deemed  the  head 
of  the  republican  party.  The  truth  is,  that  the  people  were  re- 
publicans. Every  thing  had  been  tried  ;  threats,  alarms,  religion, 
all  sorts  of  schemes ;  but  they  took  alarm  at  nothing  but  the  at- 
tempts upon  their  liberty,  and  they  hurled  down  the  party  who 
had  made  those  attempts.  Since  that  time,  the  government  has 
been  in  the  hands  of  the  republicans.  Mr.  Jefferson  was  presi- 
dent for  eight  years,  Mr.  Madison  for  four  years,  and  is  now  going 
on  for  the  second  four  years. 

Your  lordship  knows,  as  well  as  any  man  upon  earth,  how  fond 
people  are  of  place  and  power  ;  and  that  no  part  of  any  opposi- 
tion is  so  bitter  and  troublesome  as  that  part  which  consists  of 
men  whose  ambitious  hopes  may  have  been  blasted  by  their  being 
turned  out  of  place.  It  now  happened,  very  naturally,  but  rather 
oddly,  that  the  federalists  became  the  opposition  to  the  federal 
government ;  but  they  still  retained,  and  do  retain  their  title ; 
though,  really,  they  ought  to  be  called  the  aristocrats,  or  royal- 
ists. 

This  opposition  is  now,  however,  chiefly  confined  to  the  state 
of  Massachusetts,  the  state  government  of  which  has  even  talk- 
ed about  separating  from  the  union.  Your  lordship  has  heard 
of  a  Mr.  Henry,  who  was,  it  seems,  in  close  consultation  and  cor- 
respondence with  the  persons  holding  the  reins  of  government  in 
Massachusetts  upon  the  subject  of  separation,  and  who  pretend- 
ed that  he  was  employed  by  sir  James  Craig,  governor  of  Canada, 
for  that  purpose.  Your  lordship,  I  believe,  disclaimed  him  and 
his  intrigues,  and,  therefore,  I  must  believe,  of  course,  that  he 
was  not  employed  by  our  governor  But  the  people  of  America 
have  been  led  to  believe  that  there  must  have  been  something  in 
his  story. 

This  state  of  Massachusetts  contains  a  great  number  of  men  of 
talents;  many  rich  men,  become  so  chiefly  by  the  purchasing,  at 
a  very  low  rate,  of  the  certificates  of  soldiers  who  served  in  the 
late  war,*  and  by  procuring  acts  of  cong-ress  to  cause  the  sums 
to  be  paid  in  full,  which,  indeed,  was  thought,  and  openly  said, 
to  be  their  main  object  in  pressing  for  a  federal  government  with 
large  powers.  These  men,  now  disappointed  in  all  their  ambi- 
tious hopes  ;  seeing  no  chance  of  becoming  petty  noblemen  ; 
seeing  the  officers  and  power  of  the  country  pas*  info  other 
hands,  without  the  smallest  probability  of  their  return  to  th^in- 
selves,  unless  they  be  content  to  abandon  all  their  hk'fi  notions  of 
family  distinction;  these  men  have  become  desperate ;  a,,  I 
am  to  judge  from  their  proceedings,  would  pinnae  their  coi;nfry 
into  a  civil  war,  rather  than  \5eld  quiet  obedience  to  that  very 
government  which  they  had  been  so  long  in  the  practice  of  < 

*  The  revolutionary  war. 


284  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

suring  others  for  not  sufficiently  admiring.  But,  my  lord,  though 
there  is  a  majority  of  voices  in  Massachusetts  on  OUR  SIDE  ;  JOK 
ON  OUR  SIDE  THEY  REALLY  ARE,  there  is  a  thumping  minority 
on  the  other  side ;  and  what  is  of  great  importance  ia  the  esti- 
mate, that  minority  consists  of  the  nerves,  the  bones,  and  sinews 
of  the  population  of  the  state  ;  so  that  the  sum  total  of  our  ground 
of  reliance,  as  to  a  separation  of  the  states,  is  the  good  will  of  the 
most  numerous,  but  most  feeble  and  inefficient  part  of  the  people 
of  the  state  of  Massachusetts  ;  and  even  these,  I  am  fully  per- 
suaded, are  by  this  day,  awed  into  silence  by  the  determined  at- 
titude of  the  rest  of  the  country. 

The  same  charges,  which  our  vile  newspapers  have  been  pre- 
ferring against  Mr.  Madison,  have  been  preferred  against  him  by 
their  serene  highnesses  of  Massachusetts.  They  have  accused 
him  of  a  devotion  to  France;  they  have,  in  our  newspaper  style, 
called  him  the  "  tool  of  J^apoleon  ;  they,  too,  have  dared  to 
assert  that  he  made  war  upon  us,  without  the  slightest  provocation, 
for  the  purpose  of  aiding  Napoleon  in  destroying  England,  "  the 
bulwark  of  their  religion.'1  They  have  held  public  feasts  and 
rejoicings  at  the  entrance  of  the  Cossacks  into  France,  and  at  the 
restoration  of  the  ancient  order  of  things.  You  will  bear  in  mind 
that  these  people  are  stanch  Presbyterians  ;  and  it  would  amuse 
your  lordship  to  read  the  orations,  preachings,  and  prayers,  of 
these  people ;  to  witness  their  gratitude  to  Heaven  for  restoring 
the  pope,  whom  they  used  to  call  the  Scarlet  Whore,  the  Whore 
of  Babylon;  for  the  re-estabiishment  of  the  Jesuits;  and  for  the 
re-opening  of  the  dungeons,  the  resharpening  of  the  hooks,  and 
the  rekindling  of  the  flames  of  the  inquisition.  Their  opponents, 
the  republicans,  say,  we  never  were  the  friends  of  Napoleon,  as 
a  despot,  nor  even  as  an  emperor ;  we  never  approved  of  any  of 
his  acts  of  oppression,  either  in  France  or  out  of  France;  we 
always  complained  of  his  acts  of  injustice  towards  ourselves  ;  but 
he  was  less  hurtful  to  our  country  than  other  powers ;  and,  as  to 
mankind  in  general,  though  we  regretted  to  see  him  with  so  much 
power,  we  feared  that  that  power  would  be  succeeded  by  some- 
thing worse;  and  we  cannot  now  rejoice  that  the  pope  is  restored, 
that  the  Jesuits  are  re-established,  the  inquisition  re-invigorated  ; 
that  monkery  is  again  overspreading  the  face  of  Europe  j  and  that 
the  very  hope  of  freedom  there  seems  to  be  about  to  be  extin- 
guished forever.  And  this,  your  lordship  may  be  assured,  ia 
the  language  of  nineteeen-twentieths  of  the  people  of  America. 

There  are,  it  is  to  be  observed,  federalists  in  all  the  states, 
which  you  will  easily  believe,  when  you  consider  how  natural  it 
is  for  men,  or  at  least,  how  prone  men  are,  to  wish  to  erect  them- 
selves into  superior  classes.  As  soon  as  a  man  has  got  a  great 
deal  of  money,  he  aims  at  something  beyond  that.  He  thirsts  foe 
distinctions  and  titles.  His  next  object  is  to  hand  them  down  to 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  285 

his  family.  It  will  require  great  watchfulness  and  great  resolu- 
tion in  the  Americans  to  defeat  this  propensity.  You  have  not 
leisure  for  it,  or  it  would  amuse  you  to  trace  the  workings  of  this 
mould-be  nobility  in  America.  They  are  very  shame  faced  about 
it ;  but  they  let  it  peep  out  through  the  crannies  of  their  hypocrisy. 
Being  defeated,  and  totally  put  to  the  rout,  in  the  open  field,  by 
the  general  good  sense  of  the  people,  they  have  resorted  to  the 
most  contemptible  devices  for  effecting,  by  degrees,  that  which 
they  were  unable  to  carry  at  a  push.  They  have  established 
what  they  call  "  Benevolent  Societies"  to  which  they  have  pre- 
fixed, by  way  of  epithet,  or  characteristic,  the  name  of  Washing- 
ton. The  professed  object  of  these  societies,  who  have  their  pe- 
riodical orationStpreachingSiprayings,  and  toastingSj  was  to  afford 
relict  to  any  persons  who  might  be  in  distress.  The  REAL  OB- 
JKCT  appears  to  have  been  to  enlist  idlers  and  needy  persons 
under  their  political  banners.  These  little  coteries  of  hypocrites 
appear  to  have  assembled,  as  it  were,  by  a  unanimous  sentiment, 
or  rather,  by  instinct,  to  celebrate  the  fall  of  Napoleon,  and  the 
restoration  of  the  pope,  the  Jesuits,  and  the  inquisition.  But  un- 
fortunately for  this  affiliation  of  hypocrites,  they  have  little,  or  no 
materials  to  work  upon  in  America,  where  a  man  can  earn  a  week's 
subsistence  in  less  time  than  he  can  go  to  apply  for  and  obtain  it 
without  work ;  and,  accordingly,  the  affiliation  seems  destined  to 
share  the  fate  of  the  serene  highnesses  proposition  of  twenty-five 
years  ago. 

The  fall  of  Napoleon,  so  far  from  weakening,  will  tend  to 
strengthen  the  general  government  in  the  hands  of  the  republi- 
cans. It  has  deprived  its  enemies  of  the  grand  topic  of  censure; 
the  main  ground  of  attack.  The  "  Cossacks"  as  they  are  now 
sometimes  called,  of  Massachusetts,  can  no  longer  charge  the 
president  with  being  the  "  tool  of  Napoleon  ;"  they  no  longer 
stand  in  need  of  England  as  "  the  bulwark  of  religion" 
seeing  that  they  have  the  pope,  the  Jesuits,  the  Benedictines,  the 
Franciscans,  the  Carthusians,  the  Dominicans,  and,  above  all,  the 
inquisition,  to  supply  her  place  in  the  performance  of  that  godlj 
office.  They  will  no  longer,  they  can  no  longer,  reproach  the 
president  for  his  attachment  to  France  ;  for  France  has  now  a 
king,  a  legitimate  sovereign,  who  regularly  hears  mass.  They 
are  now,  therefore,  put  in  this  dilemma:  they  must  declare  open- 
ly for  England  against  their  country  ;  or,  by  petty  cavilling,  must 
make  their  opposition  contemptible.  The  former  they  dare  not 
do ;  and  they  are  too  full  of  spite  not  to  do  the  latter.  So  that 
their  doom,  I  imagine,  is  sealed  ;  and  their  fall  will  not  be  much 
less  complete  than  that  of  Napoleon  himself,  with  this  great  differ- 
ence, however,  that  his  name  and  the  fame  of  his  deeds  will  de- 
scend to  the  latest  posterity,  while  the  projects  of  ennobling  them- 
selves, at  the  expense  of  their  country's  freedom  and  happiness. 


286  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

will  be  forgotten  and  forgiven  before  one  half  of  them  are  eaten 
by  worms. 

This  is  my  view  of  the  matter.  Your  lordship  will  probably 
think  it  erroneous;  but,  if  it  prove  correct,  how  long  and  how  bit- 
terly shall  we  have  to  deplore  the  existence  of  this  bloody  contest, 

I  am,  £c. 

WILLIAM  COBBETT. 


DESPERATE  NAVAL  ENGAGEMENTS. 

I  OBSERVE  it  stated  in  the  Halifax  papers  of  the  2d  instant,  that 
the  Prince  of  Neufchatel,  an  American  armed  brig,  had  arrived 
at  Boston,  after  sustaining  a  gallant  action  of  twenty  minutes  with 
five  boats  full  of  men  belonging  to  our  ship  of  war  the  Endymion. 
The  account  says,  that  one  of  our  boats  sunk  during  the  engage- 
ment, "  which  had  on  board,  at  first,  43  men,  of  whom  two  only 
were  saved  ;  and  another,  which  had  36  men,  was  taken  posses- 
sion of,  after  having  8  killed,  and  20  wounded.'*  The  Endymion 
is  said  to  have  lost,  in  all,  100  men  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners  ; 
among  which,  the  first  lieutenant  and  a  master's  mate  were  killed, 
and  three  lieutenants  and  two  master's  mates  wounded.  The  Prince 
of  Neufchatel  had  only  "31  men  at  quarters,  including  officers,  and 
37  prisoners  on  board.  Six  of  her  men  were  killed,  15  severely 
wounded,  9  slightly,  and  o  remained  unhurt."  It  is  true  that 
nothing  has  been  published  here  in  an  official  shape  respecting 
this  naval  disaster  ;  but  this  circumstance  can  no  more  invalidate 
the  truth  of  the  statement  than  the  silence  which  has  been  kept 
up  as  to  the  fate  of  the  Avon  will  lead  us  to  doubt  that  that  vessel 
was  sunk  by  her  American  opponent.  The  repulse  and  disaster 
attending  the  Endymion,  is  not,  however,  the  only  naval  triumph 
of  the  enemy  which  has  been  carefully  concealed  from  the  public 
eye.  The  following  article  appears  in  the  Paris  papers,  received 
to  the  22d  instant : 

Extract  of  a  letter  from  Mr.  John  B.  Dabney,  consul  for  the  United  States  of  Ame- 
rica, dated  Fayal,  October  6. 

"  Our  countrymen  have  had  a  brilliant  affair.  Despising  the 
rights  of  nations,  and  violating  neutral  territory,  three  English 
vessels,  the  Plantagenet,  the  Rota,  and  the  Carnation,  attacked 
the  brig  General  Armstrong,  American  privateer,  of  14  guns, 
commanded  by  Captain  Reid,  at  anchor  in  these  roads.  They 
succeeded,  finally,  in  destroying  her,  but  paid  dearly  for  it,  for 
they  had  120  killed,  and  90  of  their  best  marines  wounded,  in- 
cluding the  flower  of  their  officers.  Captain  Reid,  with  his 
brave  crew,  consisting  only  of  90  men,  had  only  seven  slightly 
grounded." 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  28 T 

About  ten  days  ago  I  received  the  following  letter  from  an 
English  gentleman  at  Fayal,  which  he  transmitted  by  a  vessel 
bound  for  Lisbon,  giving  the  full  particulars  of  the  above  affair. 
It  speaks  volumes,  and  must  reach  conviction  to  the  minda  of 
those  who  are  so  far  deluded  to  think,  that  it  is  in  the  power  of 
this  country  to  subdue  a  people  who  fight  with  so  much  undaunt- 
ed resolution  as  the  Americans : 

Fayal,  October  IS',  1814. 

Sir, 

The  American  schooner  privateer  General  Armstrong,  of 
New  York,  Captain  Samuel  C.  Reid,  of  7  guns  and  90  men, 
entered  here  on  the  26(h  ultimo,  about  noon,  17  days  from  that 
place,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  water.  The  captain,  seeing 
nothing  on  the  horizon,  was  induced  to  anchor.  Before  the 
elapse  of  many  hours,  his  majesty's  brig  Carnation  came  in,  and 
anchored  near  her.  About  six  his  majesty's  ship  Plantagenet,  of 
74  guns,  and  the  Rota  frigate,  came  in  and  anchored  also.  The 
captain  of  the  privateer  and  his  friends  consulted  the  first  autho- 
rities here  about  her  security.  They  all  considered  her  perfectly 
secure,  and  that  his  majesty's  officers  were  too  well  acquainted 
with  the  respect  due  to  a  neutral  port  to  molest  her.  But,  to  the 
great  surprise  of  every  one,  about  nine  in  the  evening,  four  boats 
were  despatched,  armed  and  manned  from  his  majesty's  ships,  for 
the  purpose  of  cutting  her  out.  It  being  about  full  of  moon,  the 
night  perfectly  clear  and  calm,  we  could  see  every  movement 
made.  The  boats  approached  with  rapidity  towards  her,  when, 
it  appears,  the  captain  of  the  privateer  hailed  them,  and  told 
them  to  keep  off,  several  times.  They,  notwithstanding,  pushed 
on,  and  were  in  the  act  of  boarding,  before  any  defence  was 
aiade  for  the  privateer.  A  warm  contest  ensued  on  both  sides. 
The  boats  were  finally  dispersed  with  great  loss. 

The  American,  now  calculating  on  a  very  superior  foree  being 
sent,  cut  his  cables,  and  rowed  the  privateer  close  in  alongside 
of  the  fort,  within  half-cable's  length,  where  he  moored  her, 
head  and  stern,  with  four  lines.  The  governor  now  sent  a  remon- 
strance to  Van  Lloyd,  of  the  Plantagenet,  against  such  pro- 
ceedings, and  trusted  that  the  privateer  would  not  be  further 
molested ;  she  being  in  the  dominions  of  Portugal,  and  under  the 
guns  of  the  castle,  was  entitled  to  Portuguese  protection.  Van 
Lloyd's  answer  was,  that  he  was  determined  to  destroy  the  vessel, 
at  the  expense  of  all  Fayal,  and  should  any  protection  be  given 
her  by  the  fort,  he  would  not  leave  a  house  standing  in  the  vil- 
lage. All  the  inhabitants  were  gathered  about  the  walls,  expect- 
ing a  renewal  of  the  attack.  At  midnight,  14  launches  were 
discovered  to  be  coming  in  rotation  for  the  purpose.  When  they 
got  within  clear,  or  gun-shot,  a  tremendous  and  effectual  discharge 
was  made  from  the  privateer,  which  threw  the  boats  into  confu 


288  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

sion.  They  now  returned  a  spirited  fire,  but  the  privateer  kept 
up  so  continual  a  discharge,  it  was  almost  impossible  for  the  boats 
to  make  any  progress.  They  finally  succeeded,  after  immense 
loss,  to  get  alongside  of  her,  and  attempted  to  board  at  every 
quarter,  cheered  by  the  officers  with  a  shout  of  "  no  quarter  !" 
which  we  could  distinctly  hear,  as  well  as  their  shrieks  and  cries. 
The  termination  was  near  about  a  total  massacre.  Three  of  the 
boats  were  sunk,  and  hut  one  poor  solitary  officer  escaped  death 
in  a  boat  that  contained  fifty  souls  ;  he  was  wounded. 

The  Americans  fought  with  great  firmness,  but  more  like  blood- 
thirsty savages  than  any  thing  else.  They  rushed  into  the  boats, 
sword  in  hand,  and  put  every  soul  to  death  as  far  as  came  within 
their  power.  Some  of  the  boats  were  left  without  a  single  man  to 
row  them  ;  others  with  three  and  four.  The  most,  that  any  one 
returned  with  was  about  ten.  Several  boats  floated  on  shore  full 
of  dead  bodies.  With  great  reluctance  I  state,  they  were  manned 
with  picked  men,  and  commanded  by  the  first,  second,  third,  and 
fourth  lieutenants  of  the  Plantagenet;  first,  second,  third,  and 
fourth  ditto  of  the  frigate,  and  the  first  officers  of  the  brig  ;  toge- 
ther with  a  great  number  of  midshipmen.  Our  whole  force  ex- 
ceeded 400  men.  But  three  officers  escaped,  two  of  whom  are 
wounded.  This  bloody  and  unfortunate  contest  lasted  about  forty 
minutes.  After  the  boats  gave  out,  nothing  more  was  attempted 
till  daylight  the  next  morning,  when  the  Carnation  hauled  in  along- 
side, and  engaged  her.  The  privateer  still  continued  to  make  a 
most  gallant  defence.  These  veterans  reminded  me  of  Law- 
rence's dying  words  of  the  Chesapeake,  "  don't  give  up  the  ship." 
The  Carnation  lost  one  of  her  topmasts,  and  her  yards  were  shot 
away ;  she  was  much  cut  up  in  the  rigging,  and  received  several 
shot  in  her  hull.  This  obliged  her  to  haul  off  to  repair,  and  to 
cease  firing. 

The  Americans  now  finding  their  principal  gun,  (Long  Tom,) 
and  several  others,  dismounted,  deemed  it  folly  to  think  of  saving 
her  against  so  superior  a  force  ;  they  therefore  cut  away  her  masts 
to  the  deck,  blew  a  hole  through  her  bottom,  took  out  their  small 
arms,  clothing,  &c.  and  went  on  shore.  I  discovered  only  two 
shot-holes  in  the  hull  of  the  privateer,  although  much  cut  up  in 
rigging.  Two  boats'  crews  were,  soon  after,  despatched  from 
our  vessels,  which  went  on  board,  took  out  some  provisions,  and 
set  her  on  fire. 

For  three  days  after,  we  were  employed  in  burying  the  dead 
that  washed  on  shore  in  the  surf.  The  number  of  British  killed 
exceeds  120,  and  90  wounded.  The  enemy,  to  the  surprise  of 
mankind,  lost  only  two  killed,  and  seven  wounded.  We  may 
well  say—"  God  deliver  us  from  our  enemies,  if  this  is  the  way 
the  Americans  jight." 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  289 

After  burning  the  privateer,  Van  Lloyd  made  a  demand  to  the 
governor  to  deliver  up  the  Americans  as  his  prisoners,  which  the 
governor  refused.  He  threatened  to  send  500  men  on  shore,  and 
take  them  by  force.  The  Americans  immediately  retired,  with 
their  arms,  to  an  old  Gothic  convent,  knocked  away  the  adjoin- 
ing drawbridge,  and  determined  to  defend  themselves  to  the  last. 
The  Van,  however,  thought  better  than  to  send  his  men.  He 
then  demanded  two  men,  which,  he  said,  deserted  from  his  vessel 
when  in  America.  The  governor  sent  for  the  men,  but  found 
none  of  the  description  given. 

Many  houses  received  much  injury  on  shore  from  the  guns  of 
the  Carnation.  A  woman,  sitting  in  the  fourth  story  of  her  house, 
had  her  thigh  shot  off,  and  a  boy  had  his  arm  broken. 

The  American  consul  here  has  made  a  demand  on  the  Portu- 
guese government  for  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  the  privateer, 
which  our  consul,  Mr.  Parkin,  thinks,  in  justice,  will  be  paid, 
and  that  they  will  claim  on  England.  Mr.  Parkin,  Mr.  Edward 
Bayley,  and  other  English  gentlemen,  disapprove  of  the  outrage 
and  depredation  committed  by  our  vessels  on  this  occasion.  The 
vessel  that  was  despatched  to  England  with  the  wounded,  was  not 
permitted  to  take  a  single  letter  from  any  person.  Being  an  eye- 
witness to  this  transaction,  I  have  given  you  a  correct  statement 
as  it  occurred. 

With  respect,  I  am,  &c. 

H.  K.  F. 
William  Cobbett,  Esq. 


TO  THE  EARL  OF  LIVERPOOL— ON  THE  AMERICAN  WAR. 

My  Lord, 

IN  the  American  newspapers  I  have  seen  an  article  entitled 
"  British  Botheration"  in  which  article  are  noticed,  in  a  most 
ludicrous,  but  most  provoking  manner,  all  the  wise  observations 
made  in  England  as  to  the  cause  of  our  ships  being  beaten  by 
those  of  America.  At  the  close  of  the  article,  the  writer  states 
what  he  regards  as  the  real  cause ;  but  which  statement  I  will, 
for  my  liealth's  sake,  refrain  from  repeating  to  your  lordship. 
But  if  this  saucy  republican  gave  the  title  of  botheration  to  our 
former  puzzlings  upon  this  head,  what  will  he  say  now,  when  the 
question  is  become  ten  thousand  times  more  embroiled  than 
ever? 

The  speeches  attributed  to  the  opposition,  upon  this  subject, 
present  matter  worthy  of  public  observation.  Mr.  HORNER  lays 
the  blame  of  the  failure  on  the  lakes  Erie  and  Champlain ;  he 

37 


220  Letters  of  It'illUim  Cobbett,  E»> 

attributes  those  memorable  victories  of  the  Americans  to  tlie 
ministry.  He  complains  that  you  and  your  colleagues  left  our 
imval  commanders  to  contend  with  a  vast  superiority  of  force. 
The  American  official  account,  in  both  cases,  makes  the  superior- 
ity of  the  force  on  our  side  ;  and,  as  to  Lake  Champlain,  Sir  G. 
Crevost,  himseif,  gives  us  a  superiority  of  seven  guns.  I  am,  for 
my  part,  at  a  loss  to  discover  the  policy  of  ascribing  every  dis- 
grace to  (he  ministers,  and  every  success  to  the  commanders.  Of 
its  flagrant  injustice  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  and  it  appears  to 
me  that  its  folly  is  not  much  more  questionable.  Wellington  was 
made  a  duke  for  his  success  ;  but,  according  to  the  present  way 
«>f  thinking,  or  of  talking,  the  secretary  of  the  war  department 
should  have  been  made  a  duke,  and  Wellington  remained  what  he 
was  ;  and  the  lords  of  the  admiralty  should  have  had  all  the  ri- 
bands, stars,  and  titles  that  have  been  bestowed  on  naval  comman- 
ders. If  to  the  commanders  belong  the  praises  of  victories;  to 
them  also  belong,  upon  the  face  of  the  matter,  the  blame  of 
defeat. 

Much  reliance  appears  to  be  placed,  by  the  opposition,  on  the 
circumstance  of  Captain  Barclay  having  been  honourably  acquit- 
ted by  a  court  martial.  For,  say  they,  if  he  was  provided  with  a 
force  equal  to  that  of  the  Americans,  he  must  have  been  guilty  ; 
and,  if  he  was  not,  the  ministers  are  to  blame.  They  take  this 
sentence  of  the  court  martial,  therefore,  as  a  proof  of  the  guilt  of 
ministers.  But  is  it  not  very  evident  that  this  conclusion  is  false  '? 
Captain  Barclay  might  be  as  brave  a  man  as  ever  existed  ;  he 
might  have  acted  with  wisdom  equal  to  his  bravery ;  he  might 
have  had  a  superiority  of  guns  and  men;  he  might  have  been  de- 
feated ;  yet  he  might  be  perfectly  free  from  any  blame ;  and  might, 
on  the  contrary,  merit  honours  and  rewards ;  still  the  admiralty 
might  deserve  no  censure  whatever.  The  Americans  might  have 
abler  seamen  ;  they  might,  from  their  superior  bodily  strength  and 
agility,  be  able  to  fire  quicker  than  we ;  they  might  fight  with  an 
unheard-of  degree  of  resolution  and  eagerness ;  they  might  be 
animated  with  feelings  unknown  to  the  bosoms  of  their  adversa- 
ries. What !  is  it  to  become  a  maxim,  that  whenever  one  of  our 
commanders  is  defeated,  there  must  be  a  crime  either  in  him  or  in 
the  ministry  ?  Must  he  be  punished,  or  they  condemned  ?  Must 
he  be  their  accuser,  or  they  be  his  accusers  ?  This  would  soon  in- 
troduce a  very  amicable  sort  of  connexion  between  the  comman- 
ders and  the  ministry. 

The  truth  is,  my  lord,  that  there  is  a  degree  of  mortification, 
and  of  shame,  attached  to  these  naval  victories  of  the  Americans, 
that  drives  men,  and  particularly  navaLmen,  who  have  all  the  mass 
of  the  people  with  them,  to  all  sorts  of  follies  and  inconsistencies. 
They  do  not  know  what  to  say  or  to  do,  in  order  to  get  rid  of  this 
insupportable  mortification.  Sometimes  Johnny  Bull  says  to  Jo- 


Letters  of  William  Cubbelt,  Esq.  231 

mthan,  "  you  have  got  some  English  sailors  in  your  ships."— 
"  May  be  so,"  says  Jonathan,  "  but  you  have  got  all  English 
sailors  in  your  ships." — "  Aye,"  replies  John,  "  but  you  have 
got  the  best  of  our  sailors." — "  May  be  so,"  says  Jonathan,  u  but, 
then,  how  come  the  best  of  your  sailors  to  desert  from  your  ser- 
vice, to  come  into  mine  ?"— "  No,  no.!"  rejoins  John,  hastily,  ''  I 
don't  mean  the  best  men  ;  1  mean  that  they  fight  more  despernie.1i/ 
than  those  we  have  on  board,  because  the  rascals  know  that  if  they 
are  taken  they  will  be  hanged." — "  Oh  fie !  Johnny,"  rejoins 
Jonathan,  "  do  you  think  that  Englishmen  will  fight  better  from  a 
dread  of  the  gallows  than  from  a  love  of  their  king  and  their 
glorious  constitution  ?"  "  No,"  says  John,  "  /  said  no  such  a 
thing.  You  have  got  heavier  shot,  and  stronger  powder,  and 
more  guns,  and  more  r/ien."— "  Indeed,  Johnny,''  says  Jonathan, 
"  why,  I  am  sure  you  pay  enough  for  your  ships,  shot,  guns,  men, 
and  powder.  Your  navy  and  ordnance,  last  year,  cost  you  25 
millions  sterling,  which  is  more  than  twenty  tifhes  as  much  as 
ours  is  to  cost  us  next  year,  though  we  are  building  fleets  and  form- 
iag  dock-yards,  beside  defending,  lakes  and  all,  three  thousand 

miles  of  sea  coast." "  Well,"  says  John,  ready  to  burst  with 

anger,  "  what  is  that  to  you,  what  I  pay  ?  I  will  pay  it,  if  I  like 
to  pay!'* — "Oh  dear!"  says  Jonathan,  "don't  be  angry,  old 
friend.  I  have  not  the  least  objection  to  your  pat/ing ;  only,  1 
hope  I  shall  not  hear  any  more  of  your  grumbling  about  the  pro- 
perty tax." — "  You  are  a  saucy  scoundrel,"  says  John,  foaming 
with  rage  ;  "  you  deserve  a  good  drubbing,  you  Yankee  dog,  ami 
you  will  get  it  yet — and,  at  any  rate,  if  /  pay  taxes,  I'll  make  you 
pay  taxes  too.  If  I  am  miserable  myself,  I'll  make  you  unhappy 
if  I  can."' 

It  is  to  this  mortification,  my  lord,  that  you  have  to  ascribe  the 
attacks  of  the  newspapers  on  the  naval  administration,  which 
really  appears  to  me  to  have  done  more  in  Canada  than  could 
have  been  expected  at  their  hands.  You  see  that  the  opposition 
here  are  supported  by  the  country,  who  will  blame  you,  blame 
Sir  George  Prevost,  blame  our  powder,  shot,  ships,  gun  locks ; 
blame  any  person  or  thing ;  blame  and  execrate  all  the  world, 
rather  than  acknowledge  that  the  republicans  are,  gun  to  gun,  and 
man  to  man,  our  masters  upon  the  sea.  Far  be  it  from  me  to  cen- 
sure a  reluctance  to  come  to  such  an  acknowledgment.  The  re- 
luctance arises  from  a  love  of  one  of  the  best  professions  of  one's 
country  :  namely,  its  fame  in  deeds  of  arms.  But,  then,  it  is  ma- 
nifest, that  this  patriotic  feeling,  if  not  subjected  to  reason  and 
enlightened  views,  may  be  productive  of  great  injustice  towards 
commanders,  or  ministers,  or  both ;  and  may  expose  the  nation, 
to  great  and  lasting  misery.  The  opposition  are  feeding  this  feel- 
ing. They  ascribe  every  failure  to  you  and  your  colleagues  •,  and 
they  studiously  keep  out  of  sight  the  real  cause  of  those  failures:. 


292  Letters  of  William  Cobbeit,  Esq. 

They  justify  the  war  on  our  part;  they  fan  the  flame ;  they  excite 
false  hopes  of  future  success ;  they  say  to  the  people,  we  have 
failed  hitherto  from  the  fault  ol'  the  ministry  ;  and,  thereby,  they 
cause  it  to  be  believed,  that  better  may  be  done  for  the  future, 
without  any  radical  change  in  our  political  and  naval  systems ;  and 
in  doing  so,  they  do,  in  my  opinion,  as  great  an  injury  as  they  can 
possibly  do  to  the  country. 

Next  to  the  ministry  comes  Sir  George  Prevost.  Mr.  Homer 
did  not  know  which  was  to  blame,  the  ministry  or  the  colonial 
governor.  The  fleet  had  been  beat  and  captured,  and  Mr.  Hor- 
ner  was  sure  that  it  must  have  been  owing  to  something  other  than 
the  fleet  itself,  or,  at  least,  its  commanders.  It  never  could  be  ilieir 
fault.  Men  who  fought  two  hours  and  twenty  minutes  within  a 
few  yards  of  the  mouths  of  the  opposing  cannon,  and  whose  ves- 
sels had  not  a  mast  or  any  thing  standing  to  which  a  sail  could  be 
fastened.  Such  men  could  not  be  in  the  fault.  They  fought  most 
bravely.  TheJPwere  overpowered.  They  lost  their  fleet;  but 
ungrateful  is  the  country,  and  base  the  man,  who  insinuates  that 
they  ought  to  have  done  more.  They  could  do  no  more.  If  they 
had  continued  to  fight,  they  must  have  been  all  blown  to  pieces, 
without  the  power  of  resistance.  No  ;  it  was  not  the  fault  of  the 
officers  of  our  fleet ;  it  was  the  fault  of  the  Yankees,  for  being  so 
strong  in  body,  so  agile,  so  dexterous,  and  so  determined.  Mr. 
Homer  should  have  made  a  motion  against  them.  Suppose  he 
were,  next  time,  to  make  a  motion  for  prosecuting  them  ?  If 
we  could  get  at  them  in  that  way,  it  would  soon  benumb  their 
faculties. 

"  Aye,"  say  the  people  about  Portsmouth  and  Gosport,  "  it 
is  time  an  inquiry  was  made !  It  is  a  shame  that  Sir  George  Pre- 
vost is  not  brought  home  and  punished."  I  can  assure  your  lord- 
ship, that  this  is  their  language ;  and  they  will  be  quite  outrageous 
when  they  find  that  he  is  not  to  be  punished ;  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, is  to  remain  where  he  is.  There  is  no  one  hereabouts  who 
does  not  think  that  Sir  James  Yeo's  letter  to  the  lords  of  the  ad- 
miralty is  a  finisher  for  Sir  George.  To  such  a  pitch  of  folly  has 
the  nation  been  pushed  by  their  notions  of  the  invincibility  of 
the  navy,  that  a  captain  in  that  service  is  looked  upon  as  the 
absolute  arbiter  of  the  fate  of  a  lieutenant  general  of  the  army, 
and  the  governor  of  a  province,  under  whose  command  he  is 
serving.  Sensible  men  were  disgusted  at  the  arrogance  of  Sir 
James  Yeo's  letter  ;  but  it  was  well  suited  to  the  capacities  and 
tastes  of  those  who  sing,  or  listen  to  Dibdin's  nauseous  trash  about 
the  fleet  and  the  sailors. 

Upon  the  heads  of  those  who  demand  these  inquiries  and  ex- 
posures, be  the  consequences.  These  consequences  will  be, 
clear  proof,  that  our  naval  officers  had  a  sufficiency  of  force  upon 
both  the  occasions  alluded  to,  and  that  they  were  to  blame,  if  any 


Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq.  293 

body  was,  for  their  defeats.  Sir  George  Prevost  will  never  suffer 
himself  to  be  regarded  as  the  cause  of  these  calamities  and  dis- 
graces ;  and  I  am  very  sure  that  the  ministry,  having  (he  power, 
will  not  neglect  the  means  of  justifying  themselves.  So  that  all 
this  stir  will  only  tend  to  make  the  mortification  of  the  navy 
greater  than  it  now  is ;  the  prejudices  of  the  nation  will  only  re- 
ceive the  greater  shock  ;  and  the  world  will  only  have  completer 
proof  of  those  very  facts  which  we  are  so  anxious  to  disguise  or 
disfigure. 

It  was  observed,  during  the  debate,   that  though  our  ships  of 
war  were  quite  sufficiently  provided  with  the  means  of  u  combat- 
ing an  ordinary   foe,  they  ought  to  have  been  fitted  out  in  art 
extraordinary   way   to  combat  such  a  foe  as  the  Americans  /" 
But  suppose  the  admiralty  not  to  have  fitted  them  out   in  this 
extraordinary  way  ?  Were  they  to  blame  for  that  ?  Was  there  a 
man  in  the  country  who  did  not  despise  the  American  navy  ? 
Was  there  a  public  writer  beside  myself,  who  did  not  doom  that 
navy  to  destruction  in  a  month  ?    Did  not  all  parties  exceedingly 
relish  the  description,  given  in  a  very  august  assembly,  of  "  half 
a  dozen  of  fir  frigates,  with  bits  of  striped  bunting  at  their  mast- 
Leads  ?"  Did  not  the  Guerriere  sail  up  and  down  the  American 
coast,  with  her  name  written  on  her  flag,  challenging  those  fir  fri- 
gates ?  Did  not  the  whole  nation,  with  one  voice,  exclaim  at  the 
affair  of  the  Little  Belt,  "  only  let  RODGERS  come  within  reach 
of  one  of  our  frigates  ?"    If,  then,  such  was  the  opinion  of  the 
whole  nation,  of  all  men,  of  all  parties;  with   what  justice  is  the 
board  of  admiralty  blamed  for  not  thinking  otherwise;  for  not 
sending  out  the  means  of   combating  an  extraordinary  sort  of 
foe ;  for  not  issuing  a  privilege  to  our  frigates  to  run  away  from 
one  of  (hose  fir-built  things  with  a  bit  of  striped  bunting  at  its 
mast  head  ? 

It  has  always  been  the  misfortune  of  England  that  her  rulers 
and  her  people  have  spoken  and  have  thought  contemptuously  of 
the  Americans.  Your  lordship  and  I  were  boys,  and,  indeed, 
not  born,  or  at  least,  I  was  not,  when  our  king  first  was  involved 
in  a  quarrel  with  the  Americans.  But  almost  as  long  as  I  can  re- 
member any  thing,  I  can  remember  that  this  contempt  was  ex- 
pressed in  the  songs  and  sayings  of  the  clod  hoppers  amongst 
whom  I  was  born  and  bred ;  in  doing  which  we  conducted  down 
to  the  earth  that  we  delved,  the  sentiments  of  the  'squires  and 
lords.  The  result  of  .the  former  war,  while  it  enlightened  no- 
body, added  to  the  vindictiveness  of  hundreds  of  thousands  ;  so 
that  we  have  entered  into  this  war  with  all  our  old  stock  of  con- 
tempt, and  a  vastly  increased  stock  of  rancour.  To  think  that 
the  American  republic  is  to  be  a  great  power,  is  insupportable. 
Some  men,  in  order  to  keep  her  down,  in  their  language,  and  at 
the  same  time,  not  use  harsh  expressions,  observe,  that  she  is  only 


£94  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

another  part  of  ourselves.  They  wish  her  to  be  thought,  if  noi 
dependent  upon  us,  still  to  be  a  sort  of  younger  child  of  our  fa- 
mily, coming  in  after  Ireland,  Jamaica,  ftc.  I  met  a  very  worthy 
Scots  gentleman,  a  month  or  two  ago,  who  wished  that  some  man 
of  ability  would  propose  a  scheme  that  he  had,  and  without  which, 
be  said,  we  never  should  have  peace  a%ain.  "  Well,  sir,"  said  I, 
"  and  pray  what  is  your  scheme  ?"  "  Why,"  said  he,  u  it  is 
very  simple.  It  is  to  form  a  UNION  with  the  American 
states."  It  was  raining,  and  I  wanted  to  get  on  ;  so  that  I  had 
not  time  to  ascertain  what  sort  of  union  he  meant.  This  gentle- 
man, however,  was  remarkably  moderate  in  his  views.  The  far 
greater  part  of  the  nation  expect  absolute  colonial  submission ; 
and  if  our  fleets  and  armies  should  not  finally  succeed  in  bringing 
a  property  tax  from  America  into  his  majesty's  exchequer,  the 
far  greater  part  of  the  people  will  be  most  grievously  disappointed. 
So  that  this  contempt  of  the  Yankees  has  given  your  lordship  and 
your  colleagues  a  good  deal  to  do,  in  order  to  satisfy  the  hopes 
and  expectations  which  have  been  excited,  and  which,  I  assure 
you,  are  confidently  entertained. 

Of  the  effects  of  this  contempt  I  know  nobody,  however,  who 
have  so  much  reason  to  repent  as  the  officers  of  his  majesty's 
navy.  If  they  had  triumphed,  it  would  only  have  been  over  half 
a  dozen  of  fir  frigates,  with  bits  of  bunting  at  their  mast's  heads. 
They  were  sure  to  gain  no  reputation  in  the  contest;  and,  if  they 
were  defeated,  what  was  their  lot  ?  The  worst  of  it  is,  they  them- 
selves did,  in  some  measure,  contribute  to  their  own  ill  fate  ;  for, 
of  all  men  living,  none  spoke  of  "  poor  Jonathan"  with  so  much 
contempt.  To  read  their  letters,  or  the  letters  which  our  news- 
paper people  pretended  to  have  received  from  theni  at  the  outset 
©f  the  war,  one  would  have  thought  that  they  would  hardly  have 
condescended  to  return  a  shot  from  a  bunting  ship.  And  now, 
Vo  see  that  bit  of  bunting  flying  so  often  over  the  British  flag ! 
Oh  !  it  is  stinging  beyond  expression.  The  people  in  the  coun- 
try cannot  think  how  it  is.  There  are  some  people  who  are  for 
taking  the  American  commodores  at  their  word,  and  ascribing 
their  victories  to  the  immediate  intervention  of  Providence.  Both 
Perry  and  M'Donough  begin  their  despatches  by  saying,  "  Al- 
mighty God  has  given  us  a  victory."  Some  of  their  clergy,  upon 
this  ground  alone,  call  them  Christian  heroes,  and  compare  them 
to  Joshua,  who,  by  the  by,  was  a  Jew.  I  observe,  that  when 
any  of  them  got  beaten,  they  say  nothing  about  supernatural 
agency  ;  yet  there  is  still  a  victory  on  one  side  or  the  other  ;  and 
if  they  ascribe  their  victories  to  such  agency,  why  not  ascribe 
our  victories,  and  of  course  their  own  defeats,  to  this  same  over- 
ruling cause  ?  If  Mr.  Madison  had  told  the  congress,  that  "  Al- 
mighty God  had  been  pleased  to  enable  the  enemy  to  burn  their 
Capitol,"  how  they  would  have  stared  at  him  ?  Yet,  surely,  be 


Letters  of  William  Cobbdt,  Esq.  295 

have  said  that  with  as  much  reason  as  Commodore  M'Do- 
nough  ascribed  his  victory  to  such  interposition.  If  Commodore 
Perry,  who  captured  our  fleet  on  lake  Erie,  had  been  met  at 
New- York  with  looks  of  perfect  indifference,  instead  of  being 
feasted  and  toasted  as  he  was,  and  had  been  told  that  the  cause  of 
this  was,  that  he  had  gained  no  victory,  even  according  to  his 
own  official  account — how  silly  he  would  have  looked !  And  yet 
he  could  have  no  reason  to  complain.  I  perceive,  also,  many 
other  instances  of  this  aping  propensity  in  the  Americans.  It  ia 
the  "  honourable  William  Jones,  Secretary  of  the  Navy ;"  the 
*;  honourable  the  Mayor  of  New- York ;"  "  his  honour  the  Chief 
Justice;"  and  even  the  members  of  congress  call  one  another 
"  honourable  gentlemen,"  and  their  "  honourable  friends."  I  was 
not,  till  of  late,  aware  that  this  sickly  taste  was  become  so  preva- 
lent in  America.  This  is,  indeed,  contemptible ;  and  England 
will  have,  in  a  few  years,  a  much  better  ground  of  reliance  for 
success,  in  this  change  of  national  character  in  America  than  in 
the  force  of  our  arms.  When  once  the  hankering  after  titles  be- 
comes general  in  that  country ;  when  once  riches  will  have 
produced  that  effect,  the  country  will  become  an  easy  prey  to  an 
old  compact,  and  easily-wielded  government  like  ours.  When 
men  find  that  they  cannot  obtain  titles  under  the  form  of  govern- 
ment now  existing,  they  will,  as  soon  as  they  have  the  opportu- 
nity, sell  the  country  itsdf  to  any  sovereign  who  will  gratity  their 
base  ambition.  This  is  the  slow  poison  that  is  at  work  on  the 
American  constitution.  It  will  proceed,  unless  speedily  checked, 
to  the  utter  destruction  of  that  which  it  has  assailed.  Our  best 
way  is  to  make  peace  with  them  now,  and  leave  this  poison 
to  work.  By  the  time  they  get  to  "  right  honottrables"  we  shall 
be  ready  to  receive  their  allegiance.  When  the  bit  of  bunting 
comes  to  be  exchanged  for  some  sort  of  armorial  thing,  the  fel- 
lows, who  now  "  fight  like  blood  thirsty  savages,"  as  our  papers 
say,  will  become  as  tame  and  as  timid  as  sheep.  I  am,  &c.  &c, 

WILLIAM  COBBETT. 


TO  THE  EARL  OF  LIVERPOOL— O^  THE  AMERICAN  WAR, 

My  Lord, 

THE  resolutions  in  the  Common  Council  were  moved  b/ 
Mr.  Waithman,  who,  in  a  very  clear  and  strong  manner,  described 
the  principle  and  practice  of  the  properly  tax  ;  and  Mr.  Alder- 
man Wood  gave  a  horrid  instance  of  its  operation.  But  it  wa* 
not  till  Mr.  Alderman  Ileygate  spoke  that  the  right  string  was 
touched.  He  said  that  the  American  war  was  tbe  cafise  of  the 


296  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

continuation  of  the  tax ;  and  that  the  people  ought  to  petition 
against  that  continuation.  He  was  deceived  as  to  the  new  ob- 
jects of  the  war.  He  does  not  appear  to  know  any  thing  about 
those  "  maritime  rights"  of  which  he  talked.  The  Americans 
have  denied  us  no  maritime  right ;  that  is  to  say,  nothing  that 
any  writer  on  public  law  ;  nothing  that  any  usage  of  nations ; 
nothing  that  any  principle,  any  maxim,  any  practice,  even  of 
our  oimiy  at  any  former  period,  has  held  forth  as  a.  right-  There- 
fore, the  object  of  the  war  is  now  as  good,  at  least,  as  it  ever  was  ; 
and,  indeed,  it  is  now  not  in  opposition  to  any  principle  of  public 
faw,  it  being  clear,  that  we  have  a  right  to  make  conquests  in 
America,  if  we  have  but  the  might.  The  "  Whigs,"  then, 
must  not  think  to  shuffle  off  to  the  other  side,  and  to  be  thought 
consistent  in  opposing  the  war,  (which  they  at  first  pledged  them- 
selves to  support,)  upon  the  ground  that  its  object  has  been, 
changed*  If  it  has  been  changed,  it  has  been  changed  for  the 
belter;  from  the  right  of  impressment  to  the  right  of  conquest. 

But,  my  lord,  the  speech,  in  this  debate,  which  is  most  wor- 
thy of  nolice,  is  that  of  Sir  William  Curtis,  knight  and  alderman ; 
or,  I  believe,  faith,  a  baronet.  He  said  that  he  wished  for  peace 
with  the  Americans,  but  not  till  they  had  been  "  confoundedly 
well  FLOGGED."  This  sentiment  of  Sir  William  has  given 
rise  to  a  jeu  d1  esprit  of  a  correspondent,  which  jew  d> esprit  ex- 
hibits pretty  correctly  the  view  which  the  Americans  will  take  of 
the  matter  ;  I  will,  therefore,  though  no  admirer  of  doggerel,  in- 
sert it  by  way  of  note.*  But,  my  lord,  this  was  no  act  of  folly 
in  the  baronet.  He  knew  well  what  he  was  about.  Sir  William 
Curtis  is  no  fool'.  He  is,  perhaps,  as  much  the  opposite  of  a  fool 
as  any  man  in  England.  He  knew  that  this  seemingly-blundering 
phrase  was  the  very  thing  to  hit  the  taste  of  the  far  greater  part 
of  his  audience  ;  and,  while  they  were  «  laughing"  (as  it  is  said) 
at  it,  he  was,  in  his  sleeve,  laughing  at  them.  He  sees,  as  clearly 
as  you  and  I,  that  there  is  very  little  chance  of  our  beating  the 
Yankees  ;  but  he  sees,  that  it  is  the  folly  of  the  day  to  speak  of 
them  with  contempt,  and  it  answers  his  purpose  to  indulge  the 
sentiment  as  much  as  he  can,  without  prejudice  to  his  future  elec- 

•  «  THE  MICE  IN  COUNCIL." 

The  Council  of  Mice  (to  know  what  to  be  at) 

Resolved  that  a  bell  should  be  put  on  the  Cat ; 

Hut,  when  come  to  the  pinch,  there  was  no  one  could  tell 

How  to  find  out  the  heroes  to  put  on  the  bell. 

So,  when  ALDERMAN  WILL  (while  his  neighbour  he  jogg'd) 

Made  a  move  to  resolve,  "  That  the  Yankees  beflogg'd," 

All  those  look'd  about  them,  who  relish'd  the  dash, 

To  seek  for  the  floggers  to  lay  on  the  lash  ; 

Hut,  looking  in  vain,  in  a  short  time  the  whole 

Of  the  Couucil  broke  up,  and  skipt  to  their  hole. 

PUSS- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbdty  Esr/.'  297 

tion.  That  man  who  gives  his  support  to  the  property  tax,  even 
at  this  day,  and  yet  contrives  that  those  who  so  bitterly  complain 
of  it  shall  call  him  "  honest  Will  Curtis"  is  no  fool,  my  lord  ; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  an  uncommonly  discerning  and  adroit  fel- 
low. 

It  is  now  said,  that  we  have  relaxed  in  our  demands  on  Ame- 
rica, and  that  peace  is  at  hand.  1  hope  it  is,  with  all  my  heart ; 
but  we  must  not  only  relax,  we  must  give  up  all  demands,  before 
we  shall  have  peace.  I  foresee  the  likelihood  of  our  attempting 
to  claim  the  accomplishment  of  the  object  of  the  war,  if  peace  be 
made  without  out  formally  giving;  up  our  claim  of  right  to  impress 
people  on  board  of  American  ships  on  the  high  seas.  Our  put- 
ting this  claimed  right  into  practice  was  the  sole  cause  of  the  war  ; 
and,  therefore,  if  peace  be  made,  and  this  question  be  passed 
over  in  silence,  we  shall,  as  to  the  result  of  the  war,  claim  un- 
qualified success ;  and,  I  think,  I  shall  hear  those  same  venal 
writers,  who  have  long  told  us  that  the  war  was,  on  our  part,  a 
war  for  reducing  the  Americans  to  unconditional  submission  ; 
for  deposing  Mr.  Madison  ;  for  extinguishing  anarchical  go- 
vernment ;  I  think  I  shall  hear  these  same  writers  assert,  that  all 
me  wanted  was  to  maintain  this  maritime  right  ;  and  that,  as  the- 
Americans  had  made  peace  without  our  making  any  stipulation 
on  the  subject,  we  had  won  the  object  of  the  war;  and,  of  course, 
that  the  war  had  been  just,  necessary,  and  successful. 

Foreseeing  this  ;  foreseeing  that  they  will  attempt  to  creep  out 
this  way,  I,  as  is  the  custom  with  vermin-catchers,  shall  now,  be- 
forehand, stop  up  their  hole.  The  case  is  this :  We  stopped 
American  ships  on  the  high  seas,  in  order,  as  we  alleged,  to  im- 
press our  seamen  from  on  board  of  them  ;  and  we  not  only  im- 
pressed British  subjects,  but  many  republicans  along  with  them. 
Mr.  Madison  said  we  had  no  right  to  take  any  persons  whatever 
out  of  American  ships  on  the  high  seas ;  and,  after  complaining 
for  years,  in  vain,  he  declared  war  against  us,  in  order  to  compel 
us  to  cease  this  our  practice.  We  were  then  at  war  with  France, 
and  he  was  a  neidral.  Our  war  with  France  has  since  ceased ; 
and,  of  course,  our  impressments  would  now  have  ceased,  though 
he  had  no't  gone  to  war.  Our  character  of  belligerent,  and  his 
character  of  neutral,  ceasing  with  our  war  against  France,  our 
impressments  would  also  have  ceased.  If  we  make  peace  with 
him  now,  and  are  at  war  with  nobody  else,  we  shall,  of  course, 
not  impress.  The  practice  will  have  ceased.  That  is  all  that  he 
wants.  That  is  all  that  he  went  to  war  for.  He  needs  no  stipu- 
lation upon  the  subject.  He  has  resisted  the  practice  by  force 
of  arms.  The  practice  ceases,  and  he  makes  peace.  It  may  be 
said  that  we  shall,  under  like  circumstances,  revive  the  practice  ; 
and,  if  we  do,  he  will  revive  his  resistance.  He  is  not  at  war  to 
obtain  from  us  any  acknowledgment  that  our  practice  was  uniust ; 

38 


238  Letters  of  William  Cobbetl,  Esy. 

for  he  does  not  admit  the  point  to  be  matter  of  doubt ;  and,  be- 
sides, he  knows  that  such  acknowledgment  would  be  of  no  use. 
So  that,  if  we  had  made  peace  with  him,  the  moment  the  French 
peace  had  caused  the  excuse  for  impressments  to  cease,  the 
matter  would  have  stood  just  as  it  will  now  stand,  without  any 
slipulation  on  the  subject.  Neither  party  will  have  given  up  the 
point,  and  yet  the  war  will  be  at  an  end,  the  European  peace 
having  taken  out  of  existence  the  ground  of  quarrel. 

What  a  pity,  then,  my  lord,  that  you  and  your  master  had  not 
followed  my  advice,  and  made  peace  the  moment  the  European 
war  was  at  an  end !  Come,  my  lord,  be  candid  towards  me,  and 
confess  that,  for  once,  I  gave  you  good  advice.  By  not  following 
that  advice,  you  have  got  into  what  is  vulgarly  called  a  hobble. 
You  now  perceive  clearly,  that,  to  continue  the  war,  is  to  incur 
a  certain  enormous  expense,  and  to  expose  the  country  to  great 
danger  of  further  disgrace  ;  while  to  make  peace,  as  the  conflict 
now  stands,  is  really  to  be  beaten;  and,  what  is  still  worse,  to 
have  created,  by  this  very  war,  a  most  formidable  naval  rival. 

Let  me  now  take  another  article  from  the  Times  newspaper, 
that  oraclt  of  all  the  fools  in  England,  whether  high  or  low.  It 
is  full  of  matter  for  observation,  refutation,  or  ridicule;  it  is  a 
complete  picture  of  the  mass  of  the  public  mind  upon  this  sub- 
ject ;  a  mixture  of  folly,  spite,  error,  and  falsehood  j  and  is  well 
worthy  of  close  attention. 

"  If  we  could  give  credit  to  reports  circulated  yesterday  with 
much  confidence,  we  should  believe  that  ministers  had  sacrificed 
the  glory  and  the  best  interests  of  the  country  by  a  premature 
peace  wi(h  the  Americans,  at  the  moment  when  the  latter  are  on 
the  very  verge  of  bankruptcy.  Unfortunately,  however,  for  the 
credit  of  this  assertion,  we  at  the  same  time  learn,  that  most  ac- 
tive measures  are  pursuing  for  detaching  from  the  dominion  of  the 
enemy  an  important  part  of  his  territory.  Accounts  from  Ber- 
muda to  the  1 1th  ultimo  inform  us,  that  all  the  disposable  shipping 
in  that  quarter  have  been  sent  off  to  the  Mississippi.  Sir  Alexan- 
der Cochrane  left  Halifax  at  the  latter  end  of  October  for  the  same 
destination ;  and  a  large  body  of  troops  from  Jamaica  was  ex- 
pected to  assemble  at  the  same  point.  The  American  government 
has  openly  manifested  such  extravagant  views  of  aggrandizement, 
that  our  eyes  ought  to  be  opened  to  its  measureless  ambition  ;  and 
we  ought  to  curb  its  excesses  in  time.  It  is,  doubtless,  with  a 
view  to  this  just  and  necessary  policy,  that  government  has  in- 
curred the  expense  of  such  extensive  military  and  naval  prepara- 
tions ;  and  it  can  hardly  be  supposed,  that  whilst  they  are  so 
largely  sacrificing  the  national  resources  with  one  hand,  they  will 
render  the  object  of  the  sacrifice  altogether  null  with  the  other. 
Nevertheless,  policies  that  peace  with  America  would  be  signed 
before  the  end  of  the  current  month,  were  yesterday  done  in  the 


Letters  of  William  Colbdt,  Esq.  298 

•«hy  go  high  as  thirty  guineas  to  return  one  hundred.  It  was  even 
asserted,  though  without  foundation,  that  the  preliminaries  had 
been  already  digested,  and  received  the  signatures  of  the  com- 
miasiouers  on  the  3d  instant.  We  have,  however,  some  reason 
to  btiive  that  the  speculations  on  this  subject  are  influenced,  in 
some  measure,  by  secret  information,  issued,  for  the  most  unworthy 
purposes,  from  the  hotel  of  the  American  legation  at  Ghent.  Af- 
ter what  has  been  seen  of  the  total  want  of  principle  in  American 
statesmen  of  the  Jeffersonian  school,  the  world  would  not  be 
much  astonished  to  learn  that  one  of  the  American  negotiators 
had  turned  his  situation  to  a  profitable  account,  by  speculating 
both  at  Paris  and  London  on  the  result  of  the  negotiation.  Certain 
it  is,  that  letters  received  yesterday  from  the  French  capital,  re- 
lative to  the  proceedings  at  Ghent,  contain  intimations  like  those 
which  have  been  circulated  here  on  American  authority;  viz.  that 
the  new  proposals  of  the  British  will  be  acceded  to  on  or  before 
the  beginning  of  the  new  year,  provided  that  no  better  terms  can, 
ere  then,  be  obtained.  The  Liverpool  frigate  is  arrived  at  Ports- 
mouth, from  the  coast  of  America,  as  is  his  majesty's  ship  Pene- 
lope, from  Halifax.  By  these  conveyances  various  and  contra- 
dictory intelligence  has  been  received.  On  the  one  hand,  it  was 
reported  that  an  armistice  had  taken  place  between  the  troops  on 
both,  sides,  in  America :  on  the  other,  that  General  Drummond 
had  defeated  Brown  and  Izard  with  great  loss,  and  forced  them 
to  blow  up  Fort  Erie,  and  retire  with  the  shattered  remains  of 
their  forces  to  Sackett's  Harbour.  The  first  of  these  reports  is 
altogether  unfounded  ;  the  latter  is,  at  least,  premature.  At  the 
date  of  the  last  advices,  Fort  Erie  continued  in  possession  of  the 
enemy  ;  but  Geseral  Drummoud,  having  received  additional  rein- 
forcements, was  expected  soon  to  make  an  attack  on  the  position. 
Commodore  Chauncey's  fleet  was  still  blockaded  ia  Sackett's 
Harbour  by  Sir  James  Yeo ;  but  it  was  not  understood  that  any 
attack  would  be  made  on  that  place,  by  land  or  water,  before  the 
winter  set  in.  Having  mentioned  our  naval  commander  on  Lake 
Ontario,  it  is  but  right  to  notice  that  he  is  to  be  succeeded  in 
command  by  Commodore  Owen,  as  Sir  George  Prevost  is,  at  the 
same  time,  to  be  by  Sir  George  Murray.  The  comparatively 
small  magnitude  of  our  Lake  squadrons,  may,  perhaps,  afford  a 
reason  (or  at  least  an  official  argument)  for  not  employing  one  of 
our  first  admirals  on  that  service  5  but  why  one  of  the  first  generals 
that  we  possess  is  not  charged  with  the  management  of  so  ex- 
tremely important  a  land  war,  it  is  difficult  to  guess.  The  officer 
thus  mentioned  may,  for  aught  we  know,  be  a  person  of  ability  : 
certainly  his  name,  to  those  who  remember  Ferrol  and  Tarragona, 
cannot  but  be  rather  ominous ;  but  the  nation  at  large  is  really 
indignant  at  the  sort  of  apathy  displayed  on  this  occasion  by  ge- 
nerals of  higher  rank  and  celebrity,  who  ought  not  to  have  de- 


300  Letters  of  William  Cobbell,  Esq. 

dined  the  American  command,  merely  because  it  did  not  promise 
to  be  so  lucrative  as  some  others.  National  gratitude  has,  perhaps, 
been  displayed  with  premature  liberality,  if  those  who  have  re- 
ceived honours  and  rewards  for  former  services  are  to  hold  back, 
in  proud  indifference,  when  their  country  once  more  needs  their 
presence  in  the  field  of  honour.  The  American  navy  grows  under 
the  pressure  of  a  contest  with  the  greatest  naval  power  that  ever 
existed!  Paradoxical  as  this  appears,  it  is  a  simple  fact ;  and  it 
proves  more  than  a  thousand  arguments  the  absolute  impossibility 
there  is  of  our  concluding  a  pea.ce>  at  thepresent  moment,  without 
rendering  ourselves  the  contempt  of  our  antagonists,  and  the 
ridicule  of  all  the  world  beside.  Shall  we  ALLOW  the  Oner- 
riere  to  get  to  sea  with  impunity  ;  and  to  bear  to  every  part  of 
the  world  a  visible  record  of  our  shame,  in  that  defeat,  which 
entailed  on  us  so  many  subsequent  disgraces  ?  The  new  frigate 
of  that  name,  mounting  64  guns,  is  at  Philadelphia,  nearly  ready 
for  sea.  The  Washington,  another  new  ship,  carrying  90  guns, 
is  fitting  very  fast  for  sea  at  Boston ;  and  the  Independence,  of  98, 
has  been  recently  constructed  at  Portsmouth,  in  New-Hampshire. 
The  last-mentioned  vessel  is  considered  to  be  more  than  a  match 
for  the  largest  man  of  war  ever  built  in  England.  She  is  manned 
with  a  full  complement  of  1,000  prime  sailors  ;  and  what  is  also 
of  the  utmost  consequence,  her  weight  of  metal  is  far  superior 
to  that  of  any  ship  in  our  navy,  since  her  heaviest  shot  are  not 
less  than  68  pounders.  When  we  have  received  so  many  melan- 
choly proofs  of  the  effect  produced  by  this  superiority  in  weight 
of  metal,  and  when  we  have  had  no  less  than  two  years  and  a  half 
to  profit  by  the  painful  lessons,  it  must  indicate  absolute  infatua- 
tion, if  we  have  not  adopted  some  measures  to  place  our  seamen 
on  an  equality  with  those  whom  they  have  to  oppose." 

And  now,  my  lord,  how  different  is  this  language  from  that  of 
the  speeches  in  which  the  American  naval  force  was  described 
as  consisting  of  "  half  a  dozen  fir  frigates,  with  bits  of  striped 
bunting  at  their  mast  heads  /"  I  always  said,  that  this  war,  if  con- 
tinued for  any  length  of  time,  would  create  a  navy,  a  formidable 
navy,  in  America ;  and  is  not  this  creation  going  on  at  a  great 
rate  ?  Yet,  while  this  empty  fool  is  exciting  our  alarms  about  the 
Yankee  navy,  he  is  crying  out  against  peace,  because  Mr.  Madi- 
son's government  is  on  the  "  very  verge  of  bankruptcy." 
Without  stopping  to  observe  that  this  is  a  servile  imitation  of  the 
language  of  "  the  great  statesman  now  no  more,"  in  the  year  1 794, 
as  to  the  state  of  France,  just  20  years  before  the  war  with  her 
ended,  how  stupid  must  the  man  be  to  rely  upon  the  financial  dif- 
ficulties of  America,  one  moment,  and  the  next,  represent  her  as 
creaiiuga  great  navy  quicker  than  navy  was  ever  before  created  ! 
Pray,  mark  the  fool,  my  lord.  He  says,  that  "  the  American 
navy  grows  under  the  pressure  of  the  greatest  naval  power  that 


Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq»  301 

ever  existed."  Well,  and  what  is  his  remedy?  To  remove  the 
cause?  To  take  off  that  fecund  pressure?  No;  but  precisely  the 
contrary;  for,  says  he,  the  tact  "  proves  more  than  a  thousand  ar- 
guments the  absolute  impossibility  there  is  of  our  concluding  a 
peace,  at  the  present  moment,  without  rendering  ourselves  the  con- 
tempt of  our  antagonist,  and  the  ridicule  of  all  the  world  besides ;" 
which,  being  interpreted,  means,  that  the  American  navy  having 
grown  hitherto  under  our  pressure,  we  ought  to  continue  the  pres- 
sure, in  order  to  be  sure  to  make  it  grow  to  so  large  a  size,  that 
we  may  make  peace  with  it  without  seeming  to  yield  to  an  infe- 
rior force.  If  the  words  have  any  meaning,  this  it  is. 

But,  my  lord,  the  description  of  the  new  Yankee  ships  is  false, 
and  wilfully  false.  It  comes,  it  is  said, /row  Halifax,  our  great 
naval  rendezvous;  apj  is  wel!  calculated  to  provide,  beforehand, 
for  the  result  of  combats,  which  :ua>  take  place,  or,  perhaps, 
may  not  take  place,  with  the  Washington,  the  Independence, 
and  the  Guerriere.  I  told  your  lordship,  that  the  American  pa- 
pers said  that  the  Washington  was  launched  at  Portsmouth,  in 
New-Hampshire ;  and  that  she  was  a  74.  Why  have  these  Ha- 
lifax correspondents  swelled  her  up  to  a  90  gun  ship  ?  I  have 
seen,  in  the  American  papers,  nothing  at  all  about  the  Indepen- 
dence; but  I  know  that  the  official  report  of  the  secretary  of 
the  American  navy,  last  year,  spoke  of  no  larger  ships  than  74'a 
being  on  the  stocks  ;  and  if  the  American  navy-board  build  90's 
and  98's,  and  charge  the  people  only  for  74's,  the  practice  there 
is  widely  different  from  ours.  How  many  guns  the  Guerriere  may 
carry  I  know  not ;  but  I  believe  the  description  of  her  to  be  as 
false  as  that  of  the  other  two.  But,  it  is  but  too  easy  for  the 
world  to  perceive  the  motive  for  these  exaggerated  descriptions 
of  the  force  of  thfe  American  ships;  and  it  cannot  fail  to  produce 
a  very  bad  impression,  with  regard  to  us,  amongst  the  people  of 
America,  whose  eyes  are  constantly  upon  us,  and  who  naturally 
and  justly  seize  on  all  attempts  of  this  sort,  as  subjects  of  the 
most  poignant  ridicule. 

As  to  what  this  foolish  man  says  about  i]\e  future  command  of 
our  army,  why  should  he  be  so  very  anxious  to  see  "  one  of  our 
first  generals'9  in  Canada  ?  He,  who  spoke  of  the  American  army 
with  so  much  contempt  ?  And,  besides,  how  does  he  know  that 
we  have  a  better  than  Sir  George  Prevost  ?  In  a  late  number  of 
his  paper,  this  man  observed,  that  a  more  famous  commander  was 
necessary  to  prevent  our  men  from  deserting.  He  said  : — "  Too 
deeply  have  we  felt  the  disgrace  of  being  beaten  by  land  and 
mater,  in  the  last  campaign,  to  tolerate  the  chance  of  similar  indig- 
nities in  the  next.  Besides,  we  daily  see  stronger  reasons  for  a 
hot  and  short  war,  when  we  contemplate  the  wasting  effect  of 
dilatoriness.  Our  battalions  suffer  much  from  disease,  but  much 
more  from  desertion.  The  temptations  to  this  crime,  which  the 


302  betters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

Americans  offer,  are  too  strong  to  be  resisted  by  numbers  of  our 
soldiery.  We  must  not  shut  our  eyes  to  the  fallibility  of  human 
nature,  to  the  influence  of  example,  to  the  strength  of  allurement. 
The  best,  the  only  nay  to  keep  the  soldier  to  his  colours,  is  to 
place  him  under  a  commanderfto  whom  he  can  look  up  with  pride 
and  confidence,  and  who  will  lead  him  into  active  and  continuous 
service  throughout  a  whole  campaign."— So,  then,  the  Americans 
hold  out  temptations,  do  they  ?  And  the  remedy  is  to  send  a 
commander  that  the  soldiers  shall  be  proud  of,  and  that  shall  keep 
them  constantly  employed  !  And  this  will  make  them  not  dispos- 
ed to  yield  to  the  Yankee  temptations  !  I  could  point  out  a  better 
remedy,my  lord ;  and  if  you  will  engage  that  I  shall  not  have  my 
cars  cropped  off  for  so  doing,  you  shall  have  my  remedy.  As  it 
is,  I  shall  keep  it  to  myself.  But  what  a  beast  this  writer  must 
be,  or  what  beasts  must  he  look  upon  his  readers  as  being,  to  talk 
at  this  rate  ?  If  he  were  paid  by  Mr.  Madison  he  could  not  serve 
.his  cause  more  effectually  than  he  now  does. 

I  am,  &c.  &c. 

WM.  COBBETT. 

P.  S.  The  London  common  hall  have  resolved,  that  they  do 
not  like  the  property  tax  ;  but  they  seem  to  like  the  American 
war  very  much.  I  observed  to  your  lordship  before,  that  this 
was  very  unjust.  I  do  not  call  it  foolish ;  I  do  not  call  it  stu- 
pid ;  I  call  it  really  dishonest.  They  like  the  war ;  they  wish 
to  have  the  war ;  but  they  do  not  like  to  pay  for  it.  It  is  paltry 
shuffling  to  say  that  the  tax  belonged  solely  to  the  war  with 
France.  Every  man  knows  that  the  American  war  cannot  go  OK 
without  the  tax ;  and,  therefore,  to  approve  of  the  war  is  to  ap- 
prove of  the  tax,  as  much  as  the  approving  of  chicken  at  table  is 
£o  approve  of  killing  them. 


AMERICA. 

Mr.  Cobbett, 

IT  appears,  from  the  negotiations  at  Crhenf,  that  we  hav.fi 
demanded  a  new  boundary  line  ;  that  the  republicans  shall  give 
up  part  of  their  territory,  including  those  lakes  whereon,  it  is 
said,  they  have  defeated  us.  As  to  the  Americans  having  de- 
feated us,  I  do  not  believe  a  word  of  it ;  it  must  be  all  false  ;  it 
is  impossible  that  those  poor  ragged  republicans  should  defeat  a 
brave,  rich,  learned  people,  like  us,  who  live  under  a  constitu- 
tion of  king,  lords,  and  commons.  Nobody  believes  it  but  the 
enemies  to  our  government,  the  jacobins  and  levellers,  who  would 
-overturn  social  order,  and  our  holy  religion.  But  it  seems  these 


Setters  of  WiUi&m  Cobbett,  Esq.  305 

wretched  republicans,  these  American  vermin,  are  not  willing  to 
accept  our  modest  proposals.  Nothing  will  do,  I  see  plainly  ; 
nothing  will  do,  but  utterly  to  destroy  these  rascals  ;  there  must 
not  be  left  a  man  alive  among  them  ;  not  one,  not  a  single  indivi- 
dual ;  they  are  not  fit  to  live;  not  fit  to  breathe  the  same  air  that 
we  breathe ;  not  fit  to  walk  on  the  same  globe.  What  right  have 
they  to  properly  or  territory  ?  Are  they  not  republicans  ?  Have 
they  not  a  pure  representation  ?  And  are  they  not  a  nest  of 
atheists  ?  Why,  the  poor  wretches  have  no  established  religion, 
no  bishops,  no  tythes,  and  no  rates.  It  is  not  easy  to  conceive  of 
a  peopie  in  a  more  contemptible  condition,  and  yet  they  have  the 
matchless  impudence  to  refuse  to  give  up  a  part  only  of  their 
territory,  including  those  lakes,  whereon,  it  is  said,  and  falsely 
said,  they  have  defeated  us.  I  expect,  then,  to  see  shortly  these 
infidels  completely  annihilated  by  the  naval  and  military  power 
of  Great  Britain,  whose  cause,  as  Mr.  Ponsonby  is  reported  to 
have  said  in  the  house  of  commons,  has  always  been  that  of  jus- 
tice and  of  liberty;  and  thus,  I  trust,  we  shall  maintain  our  noble 
character  to  the  very  last.  That  we  can  easily  accomplish  this 
task,  no  one  but  an  enemy  to  social  order  and  our  holy  religion 
will  dare  to  doubt,  or  question.  I  shall  rejoice  at  this  event,  aa 
being  one  of  the  happiest,  most  religious,  most  humane,  and  most 
truly  moral,  that  ever  took  place  since  the  creation  of  the  world. 
As  for  you,  Mr.  Cobbett,  though  I  do  not  wish  to  be  personal, 
yet  I  tell  you  frankly,  that  you  are  not  a  bit  better  than  Mr.  Ma- 
dison himself,  who  will  shortly  be  deposed.—- Yours,  &c. 
Dec.  1814.  F. 


TO  THE  EARL  OF  LIVERPOOL-ON  THE  AMERICAN  WAR. 

My  Lord, 

THE  nation  begin  to  suspect,  at  last,  that  this  Americao? 
war  may  prove  an  unfortunate  thing.  If  your  lordship  recollects, 
I  taunted  Johnny  Bull,  flouted  him,  and  gibed  him,  when,  at  the 
outset  of  this  war,  he  crowed  and  cock-cock  caw'd,  at  the  idea 
of  giving  the  Yankees  a  good  drubbing.  If  your  lordship  recol- 
lects that  I  flouted  wise  John,  and  told  him  that,  at  any  rate,  H 
hoped,  if  he  was  resolved  to  enjoy  this  sport,  he  would  never  Ie£ 
me  hear  hira  say  a  word  about  the  properly  tax,  or  what  he  vul- 
garly calls  the  income  tax.  I  knew,  from  the  beginning,  that  I 
should  see  him  galled  liere.  I  knew  that  I  should  have  him  on 
las  hip ;  and  here  I  have  him  ;  for  he  is  now  crying  out  against 
the  tax,  as  loud  as  a  pig  under  the  knife  of  a  butcher,  though  he, 
at  the  same  time,  seems  to  have  no  objection  to  the  work  ot 
slaughtering  going  on.  In  short,  so  that  he  is  safe  himself,  and 


304  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

pays  nothing,  his  delight  is  in  seeing  war  desolate  the  rest  of  the 
world.  But  he  does  not  like  to  pay.  Rather  than  pay  he  would 
give  the  world  a  chance  of  being  at  peace,  and  of  ceasing  to 
bleed. 

That  so  amiable  a  personage  should  meet  with  any  rubs  or  cross- 
es in  life,  must,  of  course,  be  matter  of  regret  with  his  friends,  and 
must  remind  them  of  the  maxim,  that  as  virtue  alone  is  not,  in 
all  cases,  sufficient  to  ensure  happiness  in  this  world,  the  virtuous 
afflicted  ought  chiefly  to  rely  ou  the  world  to  come.  This  sort 
of  reliance  is  very  suitable  to  Johnny,  at  this  time  ;  for  he  has 
not  given  the  Yankees  a  drubbing  ;  and  yet,  the  income  tax 
sticks  to  him  like  birdlime.  The  Times  newspaper  cheers  him, 
indeed,  by  telling  him  that  he  is  causing  the  Yankees  to  pay 
taxes;  that,  though  he  so  sorely  feels  himself,  he  does  not  suffer 
in  vain  ;  for  that  he  is  making  olhers  suffer  too.  To  be  sure, 
this  is  a  consoling  reflection;  but  still  it  is  not  quite  sufficient  to 
reconcile  him  to  the  continuation  of  the  income  tax,  seeing  that, 
when  called  on  for  the  money,  he  sometimes  forgets  the  delight  of 
Beeing  others  suffer,  which  he  has  enjoyed  for  his  money. 

But  now,  my  lord,  leaving  wise  Johnny,  amiable  and  honest 
Johnny,  to  his  taxes  and  his  hopes  of  giving  the  Yankees  a  drub- 
bing, permit  me  to  remind  your  lordship,  briefly,  of  the  origin 
of  this  war  ;  for,  if  I  have  life  to  the  end  of  it,  this  origin  shall 
not  be  forgotten.  It  is  necessary,  at  every  stage,  to  keep  it 
steadily  in  view ;  for  unless  we  do  this,  we  shall  be  wholly 
"  bothered"  out  of  it  at  last,  as  we  were  in  the  case  of  the 
French  war. 

The  war  against  France  was  a  war  against  principles,  at  first; 
it  then  became  a  war  of  conquest,  and  ended  in  being  a  war  for 
deliverance.  We  set  out  with  accusing  our  enemy  with  being 
dangerous,  as  disorganizes  of  ancient  governments,  and  we 
ended  with  accusing  them  of  being  dangerous,  as  despots.  The 
French  were  too  free  for  us  at  the  beginning,  and  too  much  en- 
slaved for  us  at  the  end ;  and  it  was  so  contrived  as  to  make  more 
than  half  the  world  believe,  that  the  Cossacks  were  the  great 
champions  of  civil  and  political  liberty.  So  that,  when  we 
came  to  the  close,  leaving  the  French  nearly  as  we  found  them,  not 
seeing  tythes,  monks,  game-laws, gabelles,  corvees,  bastiles,or  seig- 
neurial  courts  re-established,  we  have  spent  more  than  a  thousand 
millions  of  pounds,  in  a  war,  of  the  first  object  of  which  we 
had  wholly  lost  sight.  We  will  not  have  it  thus,  my  lord,  with 
regard  to  the  American  war.  We  will  not  suffer  its  first  object 
to  be  lost  sight  of.  Nobody,  as  to  this  point,  shall  be  able  to 
"  bother"  any  historian  who  is  disposed  'to  speak  the  truth. 

The  war  with  America  arose  thus :  We  were  at  war  with 
France;  America  was  neutral.  We  not  only  exercised  our  known 
right  of  stopping  American  merchant  ships  at  sea,  to  search  them 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

for  enemy's  goods,  for  troops  in  the  enemy's  service,  and  for 
goods  contraband  of  war,  which  species  of  search,  and  of  seizure, 
in  case  of  detection,  Mr.  Madison  did  not  oppose  either  by  word 
or  deed.  This  was  a  maritime  right,  sometimes  disputed  by 
Russia,  Holland,  Denmark,  and  Sweden;  but  never  given  up  by 
us,  except  for  awhile,  at  a  time  of  great  danger.  This  right  was 
uever  disputed  by  Mr.  Madison  during  the  French  war ;  the 
exercise  of  it  he  submitted  to  without  complaint.  This  was  our 
"  right  of  search  ;"  and  this  right  was  enjoyed  by  us,  without 
any  complaint  on  his  part;  and  this  is  the  right  which  many 
people  think  he  opposed,  and  upon  that  ground  they  have  approved 
of  the  war. 

But  the  war  had  nothing  to  do  with  this  right,  any  more  than 
it  had  to  do  with  our  right  of  bringing  coals  from  Newcastle  to 
London.  The  war  was  declared  by  Mr.  Madison  against  us,  be- 
cause we  stopped  American  merchant  ships  upon  the  high  seas, 
and  impressed  people  out  of  them.  We  said,  that  we  did  this  in 
order  to  recover  our  own  seamen,  who  were  frequently  found 
serving  in  these  American  ships  ;  but  it  was  notorious,  the  fact 
was  never  denied,  and  never  can  be  denied,  that  we  impressed  thus 
great  numbers  of  native  Americans,  forced  them  on  board  of  our 
ships  of  war,  and  compelled  them  to  submit  to  our  discipline,  and^to 
risk  their  lives  in  fighting  for  UB.  These  are  facts  which  can  never 
be  denied.  Mr.  Madison,  for  years,  called  upon  us  to  cease  this 
practice.  We  did  not  cease.  He  repeatedly  threatened  war,  if 
we  persevered.  We  did  persevere  ;  and,  after  years  of  remon- 
strance, he,  or,  rather,  the  two  houses  of  congress,  the  real  represen- 
tatives of  the  people  of  America,  declared  war  against  us. 

Here,  then,  is  the  cause  of  the  war ;  the  sole  cause  of  the  war  ; 
war  long  threatened,  and,  at  last,  frankly  declared,  previous  to  any 
hostile  act  or  movement  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Madison,  or,  rather, 
the  congress.  For,  my  lord,  though  Johnny  Bull,  wise  Johnny, 
whose  generosity  would  put  all  other  nations  into  his  own  hap- 
py state ;  though  wise  and  generous  John  talks  about  Mr.  Madi- 
son's hostility,  it  is,  in  fact,  the  hostility  of  the  congress;  that 
is  to  say,  the  hostility  of  the  people  ;  because  the  congress  are  the 
real,  and  not  the  sham,  representatives  of  the  people ;  and  be- 
cause the  congress  who  declared,  and  who  now  support  the  war, 
have  been  chosen  during  the  war,  and  just  before  it.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  congress  do  not  purchase  their  seats  ;  no  seats  can  be 
bought  or  sold  ;  none  of  the  members  can  get  any  thing  for  them- 
selves, or  families,  by  their  votes.  So  that,  when  they  decide,  it 
is,  in  reality,  a  majority  of  the  people  who  decide  ;  and  the  peo- 
ple did  decide  that  they  would  resist,  by  force  of  anus,  the  im~ 
pressment  of  their  seamen. 

The  people  here  generally  believe  what  that  infamous  print, 
the  Times  newspaper,  tells  them,  that  the  people  of  America  never 

39 


306'  Letters  of  William  Cobbeit,  Esq. 

complained  of  such  impressments  ;  but  the  truth  is,  that,  long 
before,  years  before,  the  war  was  declared,  complaints,  and  most 
bitter  complaints,  had  rung  through  the  country  against  these  im- 
pressments. Letters  from  the  impressed  persons  were  published 
without  end.  Affidavits  proving  the  facts.  Representations 
enough  to  make  a  nation  mad  with  resentment ;  enough  to  drive 
even  quakers  ta  arms.  None  of  these  have  our  newspapers  ever 
copied.  None  of  these  have  they  ever  made  known  to  their 
readers.  They  have  published  the  harangues  of  Goodloe  Harper, 
II.  G.  Otis,  poor  Timothy  Pickering,  and  other  would-be  noblesse. 
They  have  given  us  every  thing  from  the  free  press  of  America, 
at  all  calculated  to  cause  it  to  be  believed  that  the  war  is  unpo- 
pular there  ;  but  not  a  word  on  the  other  side  ;  not  a  word  to  let 
us  see  what  were  the  real  sentiments  of  the  majority  of  the  re- 
public. I  will  now  lay  before  your  lordship  some  of  the  com- 
plaints of  the  impressed  Americans,  as  published  in  the  American 
newspapers;  for,  I  am  convinced,  that  even  you  are  not  acquaint- 
ed fully  of  the  nature  and  tone  of  those  complaints,  and,  at  any 
rate,  the  publications  should,  if  possible,  be  rebutted  on  our  part, 
seeing  that  they  must  produce  such  a  hatred  of  us  in  the  minds 
of  the  people  of  America,  as  will,  if  not  by  some  means  mollified, 
le^d  to  a  never  ceasing  hostility.  Your  lordship  will  perceive 
that  these  statements  are  sent  forth  with  all  the  forms  of  judicial 
acts ;  that  they  consist  of  statements  made  on  oath ;  that  these 
statements  are.  certified  by  legal  magistrates,  whose  names  are  af- 
fixed to  them ;  and  that,  of  course,  they  are  calculated  to  have 
great  weight  with  the  public.  It  is  not  a  bad  way  to  make  the  case 
our  own ;  to  suppose  such  complaints  made  in  our  papers  against 
America,  or  any  other  nation  ;  and,  then,  to  judge  of  the  effect 
that  those  complaints  would  make  on  the  people  of  England, 
recollecting  that  the  Americans  are  not  base  and  cowardly  more 
than  we  are. 

[Here  follow  several  depositions,  copied  from  the  newspaper^, 
of  impressed  American  seamen.] 

Now,  my  lord,  I  do  not  say  that  these  sentiments  are  true.  In 
spite  of  all  the  particular  details  of  names,  dates,  and  places  ;  in 
spite  of  oaths  and  certificates,  they  may  be  false ;  but  as  it  is  to 
such  statements  that  we  owe  this  unfortunate  war,  we  surely  ought 
to  endeavour  io prove  that  some,  at  least,  of  these  statements  are 
false.  The  republican  newspapers  teem,  and  teemed  long  before 
the  war,  with  publications  of  this  sort.  The  blood  of  America 
was  set  boiling  with  such  publications.  The  vote  of  congress, 
for  the  war,  was  the  most  popular  vote  ever  given  by  that  body. 
It  is,  therefore,  of  vast  importance  that  these  publications  should 
be  counteracted  if  possible.  They  are  either  true  or  false  ;  if  the 
latter,  as  I  would  tain  hope,  they  can  be  easily  refuted  ;  if  true, 
which  it  wauld  be  shocking  to  believe,  certainly  we  ought  to  be 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq^  30/ 

very  readj  and  forward  to  make  atonement  to  the  Americana  for 
what  they  have  suffered. 

These  statements  have,  too,  produced  another  most  serious 
effect.  They  have  filled  the  crews  with  the  most  implacable  re- 
venge. To  the  usual  motives  of  patriotism  and  glory,  they  have 
added  the  still  more  powerful  motive  of  vengeance.  Against 
crews,  thus  animated,  men  under  the  influence  of  the  mere  ordina- 
ry motive  to  bravery,  really  cannot  be  expected  to  succeed,  with- 
out a  great  superiority  of  force.  I  leave  your  lordship  to  suppose 
what  would  be  the  effect  of  statements  like  these,  if  the  case  were 
OURS.  If  we  were  at  peace  with  all  the  world,  and  were  car- 
rying on  our  commerce  agreeably  to  the  laws  of  neutrality,  while 
the  Americans  were  at  war  with  some  other  power  ;  and  if  the 
Americans  were  to  impress  Englishmen  trom  on  board  English 
ships,  bringing  up  coals  trom  Newcastle  to  London,  were  to  force 
them  into  their  ships  of  war,  compel  them  to  fight  for  America ; 
and,  in  short,  to  occasion,  in  the  English  papers,  statements  such 
as  I  have  above  quoted :  if  this  were  the  case,  does  your  lord- 
ship think  that  we  should  be  very  quiet?  And  if  such  statements 
would  be  likelj  to  set  us  in  a  flame,  are  we  to  suppose  that  they 
have  had  no  effect  on  the  Americans  2 

Here,  my  lord,  as  you  well  know,  we  have  the  real  cause  of 
that  war,  which,  it  is  said,  is  now  to  engage  a  hundred  thousand 
mm,  two  hundred  ships  of  war,  and  which  cannot  cost  less  than 
twenty  millions  a  year.  It  has  been  asserted,  that  the  congress 
declared  war  against  us  to  assist  Napoleon  on  the  continent.  This 
is  so  foolish,  that  the  writers  must  think  that  they  are  addressing 
it  to  men  little  superior  to  brutes.  It  was  impossible  that  the 
Americans  could  know  where  Napoleon  was,  when  they  declared 
war.  It  was  impossible  that  their  war  should  really  aid  him  in  his 
designs  against  Russia.  It  was  against  their  interest  that  Russia 
should  be  crushed  by  any  power,  and  especially  by  France.  The 
other  charge,  that  America,  "  like  an  assassin,  attacked  us  in  the 
dark,"  is  equally  false  and  foolish.  How  could  an  open  declara- 
tion of  war  by  a  legislative  assembly,  after  repeated  discussion, 
be  an  act  deserving  such  a  description  ?  How  could  that  be  call- 
ed an  attack  in  the  dark,  especially  when  it  had  been  threatened 
for  years,  and  when  it  was  followed  immediately  by  an  offer  for  a 
truce,  in  order  again  to-negotiate  for  peace  ? 

Here  we  have  the  real  origin  of  the  war.  Terminate  as  it  will, 
this  origin  must  not  be  forgotten,  whatever  efforts  are  made  to  put 
it  out  of  our  heads.  When  the  war  shall  have  ended,  and  we 
shall  sit  down  to  count  the  cost,  this  origin  must  be  kept  steadily 
before  us. 

The  Times  and  Courier  are  still  labouring  to  persuade  ua  that 
there  will  be  a  separation  of  the  American  states  ;  that  the  four 
JSIew-England  states  will  declare  themselves  independent  of  il\>: 


308  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

general  government,  and  will  form  an  alliance  with  old  Eng- 
land. Now,  my  lord,  mind,  I  pledge  myself,  that,  if  any  such 
proposition  be  seriously  made  by  the  friends  of  the  famous  Cap- 
tain HENRY,  by  the  would-be  noblesse  of  Massachusetts,  they 
will  very  quickly  be  decorated,  not  with  coats  of  arms,  but  with 
coats  of  tar  and  feathers.  The  people  of  New-England  are 
"  essentially  republicans."  They  have  been,  or,  at  least,  a  part  of 
them,  stimulated  by  very  cunning  men,  to  a  violent  opposition 
against  Mr.  MADISON,  and  the  WAR.  But  only  let  them  see  the 
real  objects  of  the  Pickerings,  the  Otises,  the  Quincys,  &c.  and 
the  fall  of  these  men  is  as  certain  as  the  return  of  spring  after 
winter.  It  is  not  by  a  large  majority  that  even  the  New-Eng- 
land states  oppose  the  war.  It  is  barely  "  touch-and-go"  with 
the  opposition,  even  there.  What  man  in  his  senses,  then,  can 
place  a  moment's  reliance  on  it  ?  And,  indeed,  the  only  purpose 
that  it  is  likely  to  answer,  is,  that  of  deceiving  us,  and  inducing 
us  to  leave  the  New-England  seaports  .sq/e  places  for  the  building 
of  ships  of  war,  and  the  fitting  out  of  privateers.  The  leaving 
of  that  part  of  the  union  unmolested,  while  we  attack  the  Southern, 
Stales,  is  just  what  suits  America.  She  has,  in  New-England, 
unmolested  ports  and  harbours,  out  of  which  to  send  forth  ships  of, 
war  to  annoy  our  trade,  and  engage  our  navy,  and  into  which  to 
carry  her  rich  prizes.  The  P*wl»*#*^##g1  the  O****s,  &c. 
I  really  believe  to  be  traitors  to  their  country  ;  or,  at  least,  that 
they  would  sell  themselves,  if  you  and  your  master  were  not  too 
honest  to  buy  them.  But  hang  them !  my  lord,  they  are  not  worth 
your  notice.  They  talk  big,  and  hold  themselves  out  as  of  great 
consequence  ;  but  they  are  poor  things.  Indeed,  my  lord,  they 
are.  Timothy  Pickering  used  to  be  thought  a  very  honest  man, 
but,  after  he  was  put  out  of  office,  he  seems  to  have  abandoned 
himself  to  the  revenge  which  his  disappointment  created. 

He  had  not  the  virtue  to  follow  the  example  of  his  venerable 
employer,  Mr.  Adams,  who,  upon  being  outvoted  as  president  by 
Mr.  Jefferson,  said,  "  I  only  wished  to  obtain  a  majority  of  votes 
that  I  might  serve  my  country,  and  now  I  shall  endeavour  to 
serve  it  by  supporting  him  who  has  that  majority."  Timothy 
Pickering,  who  had  been,  to  the  astonishment  of  all  the  world,  his 
secretary  of  state  ;  who  was  no  more  fit  for  the  office  than  your 
coachman  would  be  fit  for  yours ;  and  who,  of  course,  was  inordi- 
nately proud  of  his  sudden  and  unexpected  elevation,  became  fu- 
rious at  the  election  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  has  ever  since  been 
in  a  sort  of  mad  fit,  doing  a  hundred  things,  for  either  of 
which,  in  England,  he  would  be  sent  to  jail  for  a  year  or  two 
at  least.  The  truth  is,  that  Mr.  Adams  had  the  public  good  solely 
in  view,  and  that  Timothy  had  an  eye  solely  to  his  private  inte- 
rest. Hence  the  exactly  opposite  conduct  of  the  two  men,  when 
the  voice  of  the  country  put  them  both  out  of  power.  I  am  sure 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  309t 

that  your  lordship,  and  your  colleagues,  especially  your  distinguish- 
ed colleague  now  at  Vienna,  would  scorn  to  purchase  traitors  in 
any  country;  but  if  you  are  so  disposed;  if  such  men  as  the  fa- 
mous Captain  HENRV  could  possibly  prevail  on  you  to  lay  out  any 
of  our  money  in  this  way,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  such 
men,  though  so  much  applauded  in  the  Times  newspaper,  would 
not  be  worth  your  purchasing. 

This  is  the  sort  of  stuff;  this  is  the  rubbish  which  the  Times 
would  have  us  rely  upon  for  success  against  the  republic !  I  be- 
seech your  lordship  to  consider  it,  as  it  is,  the  grossest  deception 
that  ever  was  attempted  to  be  palmed  upon  mankind.  Mr.  Madi- 
son cannot  silence  these  men.  He  has  no  sops.  He  has  none  of 
that  potent  drug,  of  the  possession  of  which,  Smollet  tells  us,  Sir 
Robert  Walpole  used  to  boast.  They  will,  therefore,  keep  on 
barking  ;  but,  my  lord,  be  assured,  that  they  are  wholly  unable 
to  bite. 

I  am,  Sec.  £c. 

WM.  COBDETT. 


TO  THE  EAKL  OF  LIVERPOOL— ON  THE  AMERICAN  WAR. 

J}Jj/  Lord, 

IT  has  all  along  been  my  wish  to  see  England  at  peace  with 
America.  My  reasons  for  this  I  have  often  explained  ;  and  the 
mode  I  have  pursued  has  been  this  ;  to  endeavour  to  prove  that 
the  grounds  of  hope  of  success  held  out  to  us  by  such  writers  as 
the  WALTERS,  are  fallacious.  The  division  of  the  stales,  the 
impeachment  of  Mr.  Madison,  the  resistance  of  taxation,  and 
the  various  other  grounds  of  hope,  I  have  endeavoured  to  show, 
were  hollow,  as  much  as  was  the  expectation  of  sweeping  the 
ocean  of  the  "  half  a  dozen  of  fir  frigates,  with  bits  of  striped  bunt- 
ing at  their  mast  heads."  The  task  of  counteracting  these  delu- 
sive hopes  has  increased  in  arduousness  with  the  progress  of  the 
war.  Beaten  out  of  one  hope,  these  writers  have  resorted  to 
others ;  and,  as  was  the  case  in  the  last  American  war,  pride, 
shame,  and  revenge,  are  mustered  up,  to  prolong  a  war  which 
policy  has  abandoned. 

There  is,  now,  a  new  delusion  on  foot.  Mr.  Walter,  the  pro- 
prietor of  the  Times  newspaper,  who  (shocking to  think  of!)  has 
been  a  principal  actor  in  producing  this  calamitous  war,  is  now 
endeavouring  to  persuade  the  public  that  the  president  of  Ame- 
rica will  be  unable  to  raise  the  force  voted  by  congress  to  com- 
plete the  regular  army  of  that  great  republic  to  100,000  men,  by 
way  of  ballot,  or  what  Mr.  Walter  calls  CONSCRIPTION. 


-Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

To  be  sure,  this  is  a  measure  very  well  calculated  to  astound 
such  a  man  as  Mr.  Walter,  who  knows  nothing  at  all  about  the 
people  of  America  ;  who  receives  all  his  information  through  the 
very  worst  of  all  possible  channels  ;  who  appears  to  be  extremely 
ignorant  himself;  who  publishes  purely  for  gain;  who  desires  to 
flatter  the  follies  and  prejudices  of  his  readers  ;  and  who,  finding 
himself  the  gainer  by  being  the  avowed  enemy  of  freedom  in  eve- 
ry part  of  the  world,  has  become,  to  say  nothing  of  his  breeding 
up,  a  mortal  foe  to  the  American  government  and  people.  Such 
a  man,  who  had  been  led  to  suppose  that  the  defence  of  a  coun- 
try, like  America,  was  inconsistent  with  freedom,  naturally  relied 
upon  the  overthrow  of  the  government,  the  moment  it  attempted 
to  raise  an  army  to  resist  its  invaders ;  such  a  man  would  natural- 
ly be,  as  he  has  been,  almost  smothered  in  the  foam  of  his  own, 
malignity,  upon  seeing  a  measure  like  this  coolly  proposed  by 
Mr.  Monroe,  (now  secretary  of  war,)  attentively  considered  by 
a  committee  of  congress,  and  smoothly  passing  into  a  law,  made, 
or  to  be  made,  by  the  real,  and  not  the  shajn,  representatives  of 
a  free  people,  elected  by  that  people  only  a  few  months  before, 
and  knowing  that  they  are  again  to  be  elected  or  rejected  by  lhat 
same  people,  a  few  months  afterwards.  This  has  astounded  Mr. 
Walter.  It  has,  apparently,  given  his  brain  a  shock  too  rude  for 
its  powers  of  resistance.  It  has  upset  all  his  calculations ;  and  he 
is  now  crying  out  for  a  rebellion  in  America,  as  fiercely  as  he 
ever  cried  out  for  bullets,  bayonets,  halters,  and  gibbets,  for  the 
rebels  in  Ireland  ;  but,  never  losing  sight  of  his  old  object,  name- 
ly, to  delude  this  nation  into  the  hope  that  the  measure  must  fail, 
and  that,  therefore,  we  ought  to  continue  the  war. 

Despicable,  therefore,  as  this  writer  may  be  ;  contemptible  as 
is  his  stock  of  understanding ;  mean  and  malignant  as  may  be  his 
motives,  his  efforts  merit  attention,  and  call  upon  us  to  counteract 
them  without  loss  of  time.  In  doing  this,  I  must  first  take  the 
best  account  that  I  can  find  of  this  grand  measure  of  the  American 
government,  to  which  has  been  given  the  name  of  conscription. 
The  following  is  the  report  of  the  bill,  as  republished  by  Mr. 
Walter  himself: 

[Here  follows  an  analysis  of  the  bill  reported  by  the  military 
committee  on  Mr.  Monroe's  plan.] 

Such  is  the  measure  which,  Mr.  Walter  assures  us,  cannot  be 
tarried  into  effect ;  but  says,  that  if  it  could  be  carried  into 
Affect,  would  deprive  us  of  Canada  in  a  year,  unless  we  sent  out 
our  "  great  national  hero  ;"  and,  indeed,  that,  under  the  bare  pos- 
sibility of  such  a  measure's  succeeding,  "  we  ought  to  cast  aside 
all  European  politics."  What  a  change,  my  lord !  This  foolish 
gentleman  used  to  tell  us,  that  the  Americans  would  be  "  reduced" 
as  the  old  phrase  was,  in  "  a/t-w  weeks.'3  He  has  often  exhausted 
all  his  powers  of  speech  to  convince  his  readers^  that  this  enemy 


Lttlersof  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  * 

too  despicable  to  be  treated  with  in  the  same  sort  of  way  that 
we  treat  with  other  nations.  There  is  no  expression  of  contempt, 
contained  in  our  copious  language,  which  he  did  not  use  towards 
America  and  her  president.  And  this  same  foolish  Mr.  Walter 
now  tells  us,  that  so  great  is  this  same  America,  that,  in  order  to 
meet  her  with  a  chance  of  success,  we  ought  "  to  cast  aside  all 
European  politics." 

I  beg  your  lordship,  now,  to  have  the  patience  to  read  Mr. 
\\  alter's  remarks,  at  full  length,  upon  this  measure  of  defence  iu 
America.  The  article  is  of  consequence;  because,  though  com- 
ing from  such  a  source,  though  proceeding  from  a  son,  or  sons,  of 
OLD  WALTER  of  regency  memory,  it  is  what  will  give  the  cue  to 
almost  all  the  rich  people  in  the  metropolis,  and  to  not  a  few  of 
those  in  the  country.  After  inserting  this  article,  I  will  endea- 
vour to  show  its  folly  and  its  malice ;  and,  were  the  author  any 
other  than  a  Walter,  I  should  not  be  afraid  to  promise  to  make 
him  hide  his  head  for  shame. 

"  No  certain  or  official  account  of  the  rupture  of  the  negotia- 
tions at  Ghent  has  yet  reached  this  country.     Private  letters,  it 
is  true,  have  been  received,  staging  that  the  American  commis- 
sioner, Mr.  Adams,  was  about  to  set  oif  for  St.  Petersburgh,  and 
that  Mr.  Gallatin  had  proposed  that  a  single  individual  on  each 
side  should  be  left  at  Ghent,  to  take  advantage  of  any  opening 
for  renewing  the  negotiation ;  but  both  these  statements  are  at 
variance  with   those  contained  in  other  letters  of  the  latest  date 
from  Ghent,  received  by  the  French  mail  of  yesterday,  according 
to  which,   the  diplomatic  intercourse  still  continued.     We  repeat, 
that  we  do  not  think  this  the  point  to  which  the  public  attention 
ought  to  be  directed.   We  should  look,  not  to  the  fallacious  terms 
of  an  artful  negotiation ;  but  to  the  infallible  evidence  of  our  ene- 
my's mind   and  intentions,  displayed  in  his  conduct.     The  bill 
for  a  conscription  of  the  whole  American  population,  is  a  measure 
that  cannot  be  mistaken.     Whilst  such  a  bill  is  in  progress,  and 
before  it  is  known   whether  the  people  will  submit  to  its  being 
carried  into  execution,  it  would  be  madness  to  expect  a  peace. 
It  would  be  madness  to  expect  a  peace  with  persons  who  have 
made  up  their  minds  to  propose  so  desperate  a  measure  to  their 
countrymen  ;  for,  either  they  must  succeed,  and  then  the  intoxi- 
cation of  their  pride  will  vender  them  utterly  intractable ;  or, 
(which  is,  indeed,  more  probable,)  they  must  fail,  and  their  failure 
must  precipitate  them  from  power,    and,  consequently,  render 
treating  with  them  impossible. 

"  When  an  American  gentleman  of  splendid  attainments,  some 
years  since,  composed  his  celebrated  review  of  the  conscription 
code  of  that  monster  Buonaparte,  he  could  not  possibly  foresee 
that  his  own  country  would,  in  so  short  a  time,  be  subjected  to 
the  same  barbaretts  humiliation.  The  prime  and  flower  of  the 


312  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

American  citizens  are  to  be  taken  by  lot !  and  delivered  over  to 
the  marshals,  who  are  to  deliver  them  over  to  the  officers  autho- 
rized to  receive  them,  who  are  to  act  at  the  discretion,  and  under 
the  arbitrary  direction  of  the  president.  Thus  does  Mr.  Madi- 
son, from  a  simple  republican  magistrate,  suddenly  start  up  a  mi- 
litary despot  of  the  most  sanguinary  character — a  double  of  the 
blood  thirsty  wretch  at  Elba.  We  are  convinced  that  this  sudden 
and  violent  shock  to  all  republican  feelings,  to  all  the  habits  of 
the  people  in  all  parts  of  the  union,  cannot  be.  made  with  impunity. 
Certain  it  is  that  this  law  cannot  stand  alone.  To  give  it  the  least 
chance  of  being  put  in  execution,  it  must  be  accompanied  with  all 
the  other  chapters  of  that  bloody  code  by  which  France  was 
disgraced,  and  barbarized,  and  demoralized.  Who  is  to  hunt 
down  the  refractory  conscripts  ?  Who  is  to  drag  them,  chained  to- 
gether in  rows,  to  the  head-quarters  of  the  military  division  ? 
Who  is  to  punish  them,  their  parents,  relations,  and  friends  ?  Even 
Buonaparte  was  many  years  in  bringing  to  its  diabolical  perfection 
the  machinery  of  his  system  ;  and  carefully  as  Mr.  Monroe  may 
have  studied  in  that  accursed  school,  it  cannot  be  supposed  that 
he  has,  at  one  flight,  placed  himself  on  a  level  with  his  great  in- 
structor. It  is  highly  probable  that  many  of  the  men  who  have 
laboured  in  the  details  of  oppression  and  violence,  under  the  dis- 
turber of  Europe,  may  have,  by  this  time,  made  their  way  to 
America,  where  they  will  doubtless  receive  a  cordial  welcome 
from  Mr.  Madison,  and  be  set  to  work  to  rivet  the  collar  on  the 
necks  of  the  American  citizens;  but  we  own  that,  '  with  all 
appliances  and  means  to  boot,'  the  president,  in  our  opinion,  must 
fail.  Nevertheless,  it  would  be  most  dangerous  to  suffer  such  an 
opinion  to  produce  the  slightest  relaxation  in  our  efforts.  The 
British  government  should  act  as  if  it  saw  Mr.  Monroe  at  the 
head  of  his  hundred  thousand  regulars,  well  disciplined  and 
equipped,  carrying  the  war,  as  he  distinctly  threatens  he  will  do, 
into  the  very  heart  of  Canada.  Late  as  it  is,  we  must  awake. 
Eight  months  ago,  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  with  his  army  might 
have  fallen  like  a  thunderbolt  upon  the  Washington  cabinet,  leav- 
ing them  no  time  for  conscriptions,  no  means  of  collecting  French 
officers  to  discipline  their  troops,  no  opportunity  to  intrigue  for 
friendship  and  support  among  the  continental  powers  of  Europe. 
It  is  not  yet  too  late  for  striking  a  decisive  blow ;  but  that  blow 
must  be  struck  with  all  our  heart,  and  with  all  our  strength.  Let 
us  but  conceive  the  proposed  hundred  thousand  regulars  embodied 
in  the  course  of  the  ensuing  spring.  Does  any  one  believe  that, 
without  a  mighty  effort  on  our  part,  the  Canadas  could  be  retained 
another  year  ?  Would  not  the  exultation  of  seeing  himself  at  the 
head  of  such  a  force,  urge  Mr.  Madison,  at  all  hazards,  to  com- 
plete his  often-tried  invasion  ?  Even  if  his  scheme  should  but 
partially  succeed,  and  he  should  be  only  able  to  drag  on  a  defen- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  3 1 3 

sive  war  for  another  twelvemonths,  who  knows  what  allies  that 
period  may  stir  up  for  him,  under  the  false  pretences  of  regard 
for  neutral  rights,  and  for  the  liberty  of  the  seas  ?  On  our  side,  to 
conclude  a  peace  at  the  present  moment,  would  be  to  confess  our- 
selves intimidated  by  the  warlike  preparations  of  the  enemy.  It 
seems,  therefore,  that  we  have  but  one  path  to  follow.  What- 
ever was  the  force  destined  to  act  against  America,  before  this 
DARING  BILL  of  Mr.  Monroe's  was  thought  of,  let  that  force 
instantly  be  doubled  ;  let  us  cast  aside  all  European  politics 
that  cross  this  great  and  paramount  object  of  our  exertions. 
Let  a  general  of  commanding  name  be  at  once  despatched  to  the 
seat  of  war.  We  have  often  said,  and  we  repeat  it,  that  America 
is  a  scene  on  which  the  Duke  of  Wellington's  talents  might  be 
displayed  far  more  beneficially  to  his  country,  than  they  can  pos- 
sibly be  in  the  courtly  circles  of  the  Thuillieres  ;  but  if  his  grace 
must  necessarily  be  confined  to  the  dull  round  of  diplomatic  bu- 
siness, at  least,  let  some  officer  be  sent,  whom  the  general  voice 
of  the  army  may  designate  as  most  like  in  skill  and  enterprise  to 
our  great  national  hero.  Fatal  experience  has  shown  us,  that  no 
effort  of  such  an  enemy  is  to  be  overlooked.  When  the  flag  of 
the  Guerriere  was  struck,  we  saw  in  it  that  disastrous  omen, 
which  has  since  been  but  too  sadly  verified  on  the  ocean,  and  on 
the  lakes.  The  triumphs  of  the  American  navy  have  inspired 
even  their  privateers  with  remarkable  audacity.  The  present  pa- 
pers mention  the  cruises  of  the  Peacock,  the  Chasseur,  and  the 
Mammoth,  all  of  which  were  very  successful,  and  all  ventured  on 
the  coast  of  England  and  Ireland.  The  two  latter,  being  Ame- 
rican built,  outsailed  every  thing  that  gave  them  chase.  This  is 
a  circumstance  requiring  strict  attention  on  the  part  of  our  ad- 
miralty. Surely  there  must  be  some  discoverable  and  imitable 
cause  of  a  celerity  in  sailing,  which  is  so  important  a  point  of  na- 
val tactics.  Mr.  Fulton,  of  Catamaran  memory,  appears  to  have 
employed  himself  on  a  naval  machine  of  singular  powers.  It  is 
described  as  a  steam  frigate,  and  is  intended  to  carry  red-hot  shot 
of  one  hundred  pounds  weight.  When  we  remember  how  con- 
trary to  expectation  was  the  tremendous  effect  of  the  batteries 
of  the  Dardanelles,  we  cannot  entirely  dismiss  from  our  minda 
all  apprehension  of  the  effect  of  this  new  machine  of  Mr. 
Fulton's." 

Before  I  proceed  to  inquire  into  the  justice  of  these  charges 
against  Mr.  Monroe's  bill,  [  cannot  refrain  from  noticing,  in  a  par- 
ticular manner,  one  phrase  of  this  article.  Mr.  Walter  (for, 
hire  he  whom  he  will  to  write  for  him,  he  is  the  author)  calls  the 
bill,  "  this  DARING  bill  of  Mr.  Monroe's."  Mr.  Walter  ia  no 
grammarian,  my  lord ;  nor  is  it  necessary  that  he  should  be,  to 
qualify  him  for  addressing  such  people  as  the  well-attired  rabble 
of  England,  who  are  his  readers.  But  this  is  not  the  thing  that 

40 


314  Ldters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

J  have  in  uew  ;  /  want  your  lordship  to  mark  the  word  "  DAR- 
ING," as  applied  to  this  bill :  as  if  it  were  a  thing  which  the  re- 
public ought  not  to  think  of  without  our  permission  ;  as  if  it  were 
like  the  act  of  a  servant  taking  up  a  sword  and  challenging  his 
master  ;  as  if  it  a  were  a  trait  of  insolence  unbearable  in  a  nation 
at  war  with  big  John  Bull,  to  take  effectual  means  to  resist  his  at- 
tacks on  their  shores  ;  as  if  it  were  audacious  in  them  to  providjf 
the  means  of  preventing  their  cities,  towns,  and  villages,  from  be"- 
ing  plundered  or  burnt.  This  Mr.  Walter,  only  a  few  days  ago, 
called  Mr.  Jefferson  "  liar  and  slave."  He  has  a  hundred  times 
called  Mr.  Madison  a  miscreant,  a  traitor,  a  liar,  a  villain  ;  and 
has  as  often  insisted  that  no  peace  ought  ever  to  be  made  with 
him.  He  has  frequently  insisted  that  Mr.  Madison  and  his  fac- 
tion (the  majority  of  Congress)  must  be  hurled  from  their  seats* 
He  has  called  Mr.  Jefferson  the  old  serpent.  In  short,  it  is  the 
next  to  impossible  to  think  of  any  vile  term  or  epithet,  which  this 
author  has  not  applied  to  the  American  president,  and  the  majority 
of  that  congress  which  is  the  real  representation  of  the  Ameri- 
can people.  And  yet  he  has  the  cool  impudence  to  speak  of  this 
bill,  this  measure  of  defence,  as  if  it  were  something  insolent  to- 
wards us. 

The  truth  is,  my  lord,  we  have  so  long  had  to  deal  with  East 
Indians,  and  Portuguese,  and  Spaniards,  and  Italians,  and  Ger- 
mans, and  Dutchmen,  and  Russians,  and  Imperialist  Frenchmen, 
that  we  are  quite  spoiled  for  a  dealing  with  the  Americans.  We 
have,  at  last,  arrived  at  such  a  pitch,  that  we  regard  it  as  tnso- 
lence  in  any  people  even  to  talk  of  resisting  us.  Mr.  Walter  is, 
in  this  respect,  but  the  mouth-piece  of  his  readers.  We  must 
correct  ourselves  as  to  this  way  of  thinking  and  talking,  if  the 
war  with  America  continue  ;  or  we  shall  be  exposed  to  the  deri- 
sion of  the  whole  world. 

Now,  then,  as  to  Mr.  Monroe's  measure.  Mr.  Walter  describes 
it  as  a  conscription  ;  says  that  it  will  subject  the  people  to  bar- 
barous  humiliation  ;  says  that  it  makes  the  president  a  military 
despot  of  the  most  sanguinary  character ;  asks  who  is  to  chaiu 
the  conscripts,  and  drag  them  to  the  head  quarters  of  the  military 
division ;  calls  the  raising  of  this  force  putting  a  collar  on  the 
necks  of  the  American  citizens. 

These  are  the  charges  which  Mr.  Walter  prefers  against  this 
grand  measure  of  the  republic  ;  and  he  observes,  that  "  when  an 
American  gentleman  of  splendid  attainments,  some  years  ago, 
composed  his  celebrated  review  of  the  conscription  code  of  that 
monster  Buonaparte,  he  could  not  possibly  foresee  that  his  own 
country  would  so  soon  be  subjected  to  the  same  barbarous  hu- 
miliation.1' This  gentleman  of  "  splendid  attainments"  was  a 
Mr.  Walsh  of  Philadelphia,  who,  having  been  in  France,  came 
over  to  England,  where,  under  the  patronage  of  the  friends  of 


falters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq.  3,15 

bribery  and  corruption,  he  wrote  and  published  a  pamphlet, 
calculated  to  aid  their  views.  This  pamphlet  clearly  showed, 
that  the  author  was  one  of  those  Americans,  who,  by  the 
vain  splendour  that  they  here  behold,  and  by  the  hope  of 
sharing  in  it,  have  been  induced  to  apostatize  from  the  principles 
of  their  own  republican  government.  This  young  man,  whose 
work  was  really  a  very  poor  performance,  abounding  with  incon- 
sistencies, and,  indeed,  with  downright  falsehoods,  had  his  head 
turned  by  the  flatteries  of  the  hireling  writers  and  reviewers 
here;  and  I  should  not  wonder  if  his  work  acquired  him  the  un- 
speakable felicity  of  hearing,  that  even  his  name  was  mentioned 
in  a  conversation  between  two  lords.  The  great  recommendation 
of  the  work,  was,  that  it  was  not  the  work  of  an  Englishman. 
No  :  it  was  said  to  be  the  work  of  an  American,  who,  of  course, 
was  a  friend  of  the  French,  and  not  at  all  disposed  to  exaggerate 
in  describing  their  misery.  This  was  the  fraudulent  colour  under 
which  the  work  got  into  circulation.  Mr.  Walsh  was  a  tool  in 
the  hands  of  crafty  men,  who  dazzled  him  with  praises. 

But,  now,  as  to  the  resemblance  between  Mr.  Monroe's  mea- 
sure and  the  conscription  of  Napoleon : 

1st.  The  French  conscription  was  decreed  by  an  arbitrary 
despot,  assisted  by  an  assembly  whom  the  people  had  not  chosen. 
The  levy  in  America,  is  ordered  by  a  law,  passed  by  the  con- 
gress, who  are  the  real,  and  not  the  sham,  representatives  of  the 
people  ;  who  have  recently  been  freely  chosen  by  the  people ; 
and  who,  if  they  desire  to  be  re-elected,  must  act  so  as  to  please 
the  people  ;  the  time  of  their  re-election  being  near  at  hand. 

2d.  The  French  conscript  was  called  out  to  fight  for  the  sup- 
port and  aggrandizement  of  a  particular  family,  and  for  the  sup- 
port also  of  nobles  in  the  possession  of  their  titles  and  estates. 
It  was  the  honour  of  the  crown  that  the  Frenchmen  was  called 
on  to  fight  for,  and  that,  too,  in  distant  lands.  The  American 
citizen  is  called  out  to  defend  HO  sovereign  family,  no  crown,  no 
nobles,  to  give  no  security,  and  to  gain  no  renown  for  them,  or 
any  of  them  ;  but  to  fight  for  the  safety,  liberty,  and  honour  of  a 
country,  where  there  are  no  distinctions  of  rank,  and  where,  of 
course,  every  individual  fights,  when  he  does  fight,  in  his  own 
cause  as  much  as  in  the  cause  of  the  president  himself. 

3d.  The  French  conscription  compelled  personal  service. 
The  American  levy  contains  no  such  compulsion.  Every  twenty- 
five  men,  between  the  ages  of  1 3  and  45,  are  to  furnish  one  man. 
If  no  one  of  the  twenty-five  will  serve  in  person,  the  whole  twenty- 
five  together,  are,  according  to  their  property,  to  pay  a  certain 
sum  of  money. 

4th.  The  French  conscript,  while  he  left,  perhaps,  an  aged 
father  or  mother  at  home,  living  in  penury,  was  fighting  for  an 
emperor,  whose  wife  carried  about  her  person,  at  the  nation's  ex- 


316  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

pense,  decorations,  which  cost  as  much  as  would  have  fed  thou- 
sands of  families  for  a  year.  The  American  levyman  knows 
that  his  government,  all  taken  together,  president,  congress, 
judges,  secretaries,  clerks  and  all,  do  not  cost  so  much  in  a  year 
as  is  swallowed  by  an  imperial  family  in  one  single  day. 

5th.  France  was  not  invaded.  This  is  a  very  material  point. 
America  was,  and  is  invaded.  Her  villages,  towns,  and  cities, 
have  been  plundered  and  burnt.  A  continuation  of  this  mode 
of  warfare  has  been  distinctly  declared  by  our  admiral  to  have 
been  resolved  on.  It  is  invasion,  it  is  devastation,  it  is  fire,  it  ia 
the  sword,  it  is  plunder  at  their  very  doors,  and  in  their  very 
dwellings  on  the  coast,  that  the  American  levy  are  called  forth  to 
repel,  to  punish,  or  to  prevent.  It  is  no  possible,  no  imaginary, 
no  distant  danger,  that  has  called  forth  this  measure  from  the  con- 
gress :  it  is  actual  invasion  ;  it  is  an  enemy  in  the  country,  there 
laying  waste,  plundering,  and  killing  ;  lawfully,  if  you  please  ; 
but  that  is  no  matter.  If  Napoleon  had  landed  an  army  here,  he 
would  have  been  justified  in  so  doing  by  the  laws  of  war;  but 
when  we  expected  him  even  to  make  the  attempt  at  invasion,  did 
we  confine  ourselves  to  measures  like  this  of  Mr.  Monroe  ?  Did 
we  not  call  upon  the  whole  of  the  people  to  be  ready  to  come  out 
Wider  martial  law  ?  But  I  am  here  anticipating  another  part  of 
the  subject  of  my  letter. 

So  much,  then,  for  the  resemblance  between  the  French  con- 
scription and  the  American  levy  ;  and  I  am  sure  that  your  lord- 
ship will  allow,  that  they  no  more  resemble  one  another  than  this 
REGISTER  resembles  the  Times  newspaper.  What,  then,  becomes 
of  Mr.  Walter's  bombastical  trash  about  sanguinary  despots  and 
chained  conscripts  ?  Yet,  he  will  find  dupes  !  He  has  found 
dupes  for  many  years  ;  and  he  will  continue  to  find  them  upon  this 
subject,  I  fear,  till  we  shall  see  an  American  fleet  on  the  coast  of 
Ireland ;  an  occurrence  more  probable  than,  at  one  time,  was 
thought  the  capture  of  an  English  frigate  by  a  republican  thing 
with  a  bit  of  striped  bunting  at  its  mast  head,  as  Mr.  Canning 
thought  proper  to  describe  the  American  frigates. 

But,  my  lord,  it  is  not  with  the  French  conscription  alone  that 
I  mean  to  accompany  the  republican  levy.  Let  us  see  (for  that 
will  bring  the  thing  home  to  us)  what  is  the  nature  of  this  measure 
of  Mr.  Monroe,  compared  with  our  mililias» 

We  have  two  or  three  militias ;  but  there  are  two  clearly  dis- 
tinguished from  each  other :  one  is  called  the  militia,  and  the 
other  the  local  militia.  The  former  consists  of  men  called  out 
by  BALLOT,  WITHOUT  ANY  REGARD  TO  THE 
AMOUNT  OF  THEIR  PROPERTY.  Each  man,  so  called 
on,  must  serve  in  person,  or  must,  out  of  his  own  pocket,  find  a 
man  to  serve  in  his  stead  ;  and  seeing  that  the  service  is,  in  all 
respects,  except  that  of  being  sent  over  gea,  the  same  as  that  of 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  31? 

regular  soldiers ;  seeing  that  the  man  may  be  marched  to  any 
part  of  the  kingdom,  may  be  quartered  in  camp,  in  barracks,  and 
is  subjected  to  all  military  pains  and  penalties,  the  price  of  sub- 
stitutes has  long  been  so  high  that  no  labourer  or  journeyman  has, 
out  of  his  own  pocket,  been  able  to  procure  a  substitute.  Now, 
you  see,  there  is  a  wide  difference  here ;  for  the  man  of  small 
means  in  America  has  twenty-four  others  to  assist  him  in  paying 
the  money  necessary  to  engage  a  substitute.  Twenty-five  men 
are  put  into  a  class.  It  one  of  them  goes  to  serve,  the  others  are 
able  to  make  him  a  handsome  compensation.  If  one  of  them  choose 
to  serve,  the  money,  in  lieu  of  the  service  of  one  man,  is  to  be 
collected  from  twenty-five  men.  And,  which  is  the  beauty  of  this 
admirable  scheme,  when  it  comes  to  the  payment  of  money,  each 
person  is  to  pay,  not  the  same  sum,  but  a  sum  in  proportion  to 
the  amount  of  his  means.  In  England,  the  names  of  all  of  cer- 
tain ages,  in  each  parish,  are  put  into  a  box,  out  of  which  the 
number  wanted  are  drawn.  It  happens,  of  course,  that,  of  four, 
one  is  a  rich  merchant,  another  a  farmer,  another  a  journeyman 
tailor,  and  another  a  labourer.  Each  is  to  serve  in  person,  or  find 
a  substitute.  The  price  of  the  substitute  is  as  high  for  the  poor 
as  for  the  rich.  The  two  latter,  therefore,  who  have  no  property 
to  defend,  must  serve,  or  they  must  rake  together  the  means  of 
paying  for  the  defence  of  the  property  of  the  rich,  and  thus  in- 
volve themselves  in  debt,  and  expose  their  families,  if  they  have 
any,  to  misery.  But,  you  see,  Mr.  Monroe's  scheme  most  ef- 
fectually provides  against  this.  It  puts  all  the  male  population, 
between  18  and  45,  into  classes  of  twenty-five  men.  Each  class 
is  to  send  one  man.  If  they  agree  amongst  themselves  who  shall 
go,  the  thing  is  done.  If  none  of  them  choose  to  go,  then  the 
twenty-five  are  to  pay  a  sum  of  money ;  but  here  they  are  not  to 
pay  alike  ;  the  journeyman  tailor  and  the  labourer  are  not  to  pay 
like  the  merchant  and  the  farmer  ;  every  man  of  the  twenty-five 
is  to  pay  in  proportion  to  his  property  ;  and  thus  does  the  burden 
of  defence  fall,  with  arithmetical  correctness,  on  the  thing  to  be 
defended. 

And  this,  my  lord,  is  what  Mr.  Walter  calls  a  "  conscription  ;" 
this  he  calls  a  measure  of  "  barbarous  humiliation'9  to  the  peo- 
ple of  America  ;  for  proposing  this  measure  he  calls  Mr.  Madison, 
a  "  sanguinary  despot ;"  this  is  the  measure  which,  he  says, 
will  never  be  submitted  to  by  the  republicans.  The  foolish  man 
will  soon  have  to  announce  his  astonishment  at  the  complete  suc- 
cess of  the  measure;  if  he  has  not,  I  will  acknowledge  myself  to 
^e  as  great  a  fool  as  he. 

But,  to  proceed,  our  local  militia  were  to  serve  only  within 
their  several  counties,  but  their  service  has  now  been  extended  ; 
though,  except  in  cases  of  urgency,  they  are  to  be  called  out 
only  a  month  in  the  year.  Here  no  man  must  get  the  means  of 


Letters  of  William  Cobbelt, 

hiring  a  substitute  from  any  insurance,  or  club.  He  must  make 
no  bargain  with  his  master  to  work  out  the  amount  of  the  penalty. 
He  must  swear  that  the  ten  poun-ls  comes  out  of  his  own  present 
means,  or  he  must  serve  in  person.  In  this  case,  however,  we 
approach  a  little  nearer  to  Mr.  Monroe's  excellent  scheme  ;  for 
in  this  militia,  we  proportion  the  property  of  him  who  refuses  to 
serve  ;  though  a  rich  farmer  still  pays  only  about  twenty  pounds, 
while  the  poorest  of  his  labourers  must  pay  ten  pounds,  though, 
certainly,  the  property  of  the  former  may  be  estimated  at  two  or 
three  thousand  times  greater  than  the  property  of  the  latter. 
Now,  according  to  Mr.  Monroe's  scheme,  a  couple  of  farmers 
would  find  themselves  classed  with  twenty-three  labourers  and 
journeymen  blacksmiths,  collar-makers,  wheelwrights,  &c.  &c. 
And,  of  course,  the  two  farmers  would  pay  24-25ths  of  the 
penalty ;  or,  which  would  be  the  natural  result,  one  man,  out  of 
the  twenty  five,  with  a  handsome  reward  from  the  rest,  would 
cheerfully  take  up  the  musket  instead  of  the  dung-fork,  or  the 
sledge-hammer. 

But  the  most  important  distinction  still  remains  to  be  noticed  ; 
that  is  to  say,  that  we  have,  for  twenty  years,  had  a  militia  on 
foot,  under  martial  lam,  under  officers  commissioned  by  the  king, 
under  the  regular  discipline,  lodged  in  camps  or  barracks, 
inarched  to  every  corner  of  the  kingdom,  without  any  actual  inva- 
sion of  the  country.  These  regiments  have  been  kept  up,  the 
balloting  has  been  going  on,  and  no  invaders  have  come  to  burn 
our  villages,  towns,  and  cities  ;  or  to  plunder  them,  or  lay  them 
under  contribution :  While,  in  America,  we  are  invading  and 
laying  waste  ;  we  are  taking  permanent  possession  of  one  district ; 
\ve  are  compelling  the  people  to  swear  allegiance  to  our  king ;  we 
Lave  a  mighty  naval  force  continually  menacing  the  seacoast ;  we 
have  one  army  afloat  here,  another  there,  more  are  out,  and  this 
Mr.  Walter  is  calling  till  he  is  hoarse  for  more  troops  to  be  sent 
(o  devastate  and  divide  the  country,  to  overturn  the  republican 
government,  and  reduce  the  people  to  unconditional  submission  ; 
all  this  he  is  doing,  while  he  is,  at  the  same  time,  crying  out 
against  the  "  barbarous"  scheme  of  calling  upon  the  people  of 
property  to  defend  their  country,  either  in  their  persons,  or  with 
their  purses.  Ay,  my  lord  !  fool  as  Mr.  Walter  is,  he  perceives 
that  Mr.  Monroe's  is  an  infallible  scheme  for  raising  an  army  in  a 
short  time,  and  for  keeping  that  army  complete.  He,  fool  as  he 
is,  smells  powder  in  every  line  of  this  scheme.  But  it  is  his 
business  to  misrepresent,  to  disfigure,  to  induce  his  weil-dressed 
rabble  of  readers,  and  you,  too,  if  possible,  to  believe,  that  the 
scheme  will  fall ;  and  that,  therefore,  we  ought  to  carry  on  the 
war  with  all  imaginable  energy.  I  trust,  however,  that  you  are 
Jiot  to  be  misled  by  him,  or  by  any  body  else.  I  trust  that  you 
see  the  danger  which  this  wise  and  equitable  plan  presents  to 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  SI  9 

PS..  I  trust  that  you  will  at  once  abandon  all  hopes  of  extorting 
any  concession  from  a  country  which  has  now  shown,  that  diffi- 
culties and  dangers,  as  they  press  upon  her,  only  tend  to  increase 
her  energy,  to  raise  her  spirit,  and  make  her  more  formidable. 
I  have  respect  enough  for  the  understanding  of  your  lordship  to 
believe,  that  you  have  read  Mr.  Monroe's  letter  to  the  chairman 
of  the  military  committee  with  great  attention,  and  not  without 
some  degree  of  alarm.  But  the  conclusion  of  it  is  so  very  im- 
portant, that  I  cannot  refrain  from  again  calling  your  attention 
loit 

"  I  should,'*  says  he,  "  insult  the  understanding,  and  wound 
ihe  feelings  of  the  committee,  if  I  touched  on  the  calamities  inci- 
dent to  defeat.  Dangers  which  are  remote,  and  can  never  be 
realized,  excite  no  alarm  with  a  gallant  and  generous  people.  But 
the  advantages  of  success  have  a  fair  claim  to  their  deliberate 
consideration.  The  effort  we  have  already  made  has  attracted 
the  attention  and  extorted  the  praise  of  other  nations.  Already 
have  most  of  the  absurd  theories  and  idle  speculations  on  our 
system  of  government,  been  refuted  and  put  down.  We  are  now 
felt  and  respected  as  a  power ;  and  it  in  the  dread  which  the  enemy 
entertain  of  our  resources  and  growing  importance,  that  has  in- 
duced him  lo  press  the  mar  against  us  after  its  professed  objects 
had  ceased.  Success,  by  discomfiture  of  his  schemes,  and  the  at- 
tainment of  an  honourable  peace,  will  place  the  United  States  on 
higher  grounds,  in  the  opinion  of  the  world,  than  they  have  held 
at  any  former  period.  In  future  wars,  their  commerce  will  be 
permitted  to  take  its  lawful  range  unmolested.  Their  remon- 
strances to  foreign  governments  will  not  again  be  put  aside,  un- 
heeded. Few  will  be  presented,  because  there  will  seldom  be 
occasion  for  them.  Our  union,  founded  on  internal  affection,  will 
have  acquired  new  strength  by  the  proof  it  will  have  afforded  of 
the  important  advantages  attending  it.  Respected  abroad,  and 
happy  at  home,  the  United  States  will  have  accomplished  the 
great  objects  for  which  they  have  so  long  contended.  As  a  na- 
tion, they  will  have  little  lo  dread,  as  a  people,  little  to  desire." 

I  beseech  your  lordship's  serious  attention  to  these  important 
words.  I  allow,  that  peace  now  made  on  the  basis  of  the  Stains 
Quo  would  be  success  to  America.  I  have  often  said  this  before. 
To  defend  herself  against  us,  single  handed,  will  be  most  glori- 
ous triumph  to  her,  and  will  elevate  her  in  the  eyes  of  all  the 
world.  But,  then,  my  lord,  to  repeat  once  more  what  I  have  so 
often  said,  what  will  be  the  consequence  of  her  success  at  the  end 
of  a  ten  years',  or  a  five  years'  war?  How  much  greater  would 
then  be  her  triumph?  How  much  greater  her  weight  in  the  world  T 
How  much  more  proud  her  defiance  of  us  ?  How  much  more 
powerful  her  navy  ?  How  much  more  exasperated  her  people 
against  us? 


320  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

I  confess,  that,  after  all  that  has  been  said  here  about  Mr.  Ma* 
dison ;  after  all  the  threats  of  our  press  to  depose  him ;  after  all  the 
"  liars,  traitors,  hypocrites,"  &c.  that  the  press  has  called  him ; 
after  all  the  expectations  of  seeing  a  viceroy  sent  out  to  Washing- 
ton city,  it  would  sink  the  heart  of  John  Bull  down  into  his  shoes 
to  see  a  peace  made  with  this  same  Mr.  Madison,  without  extort- 
ing something  from  him.  But  you  and  your  colleagues  ought  to 
despise  this  national  folly,  created  by  the  venal  men,  who  live  by 
misrepresentation  and  falsehood ;  whose  tables  are  furnished  with 
the  fruits  of  flattering  popular  prejudices. 

I  confess,  too,  that  the  friends  of  Captain  Henry  ;  that  the 
would-be  noblesse  of  Massachusetts;  that  the  federalists  in  ge- 
neral, would  be  put  down  forever  by  a  peace  with  Mr.  Madison, 
on  terms  honourable  to  America,  made  at  this  time  ;  and  which 
peace  would  clearly  have  been  obtained  by  the  wisdom  of  hia 
measures,  and  the  bravery  of  those  whom  he  has  employed.  But 
hang  these  scurvy  noblesse,  my  lord  !  They  are  poor  creatures. 
They  cannot  assist  us.  The  population  of  America  is  essentially 
republican,  from  one  end  to  the  other.  These  poor  things  have 
fried  their  utmost;  and  they  have  failed.  As  long  as  they  are 
stimulated  with  the  hope  or  forcing  open  the  offices  of  government 
by  the  misfortunes  of  their  country,  they  will  talk  big  about  a  se« 
paralion  of  the  union  ;  but  the  moment  that  that  hope  dies  with- 
in them,  you  will  see  them  as  quiet  as  mice.  And  really,  I  do 
not  know  of  any  thing  more  likely  to  kill  that  hope  than  the  scheme 
of  Mr.  Monroe,  which  will  not  only  bring  forth  an  efficient  army 
now,  but  which  will  hold  an  efficient  army  always  in  readiness 
at  a  week's  notice,  while,  at  the  same  time,  it  will  obviate  the  ne- 
cessity of  a  standing-  army  and  of  a  great  permanent  expense, 
and  will  prevent  the  executive  government  from  acquiring  a  pa- 
tronage inconsistent  with  the  principles  of  republican  government, 
and  dangerous  to  political  and  civil  liberty. 

I  confess,  moreover,  that  there  is  another  class  of  men,  whom 
you  would  mortally  offend  by  making  a  peace  that  should  be  ho- 
nourable to  America :  I  mean,  the  haters  of  freedom.  I  do  not 

mean This  moment 

has  arrived  the  Courier  newspaper  with  news  of  the  PEACE. 
I  do  not  not  know  how  to  express  the  pleasure  I  feel  at  this  news, 
or  the  gratitude,  which,  for  this  act,  I,  in  common  with  my  coun- 
trymen, owe  to  your  lordship  and  your  colleagues.  Far  be  it  from 
me  to  rejoice  at  what  the  Times  calls  the  disgrace  of  the  navy 
of  England,  and  the  humiliation  of  the  crown  ;  but  being  fully 
convinced,  the  longer  the  war  had  continued  the  more  disgrace- 
ful and  dangerous  would  have  been  the  result,  I  do  most  sincerely 
rejoice  at  this  auspicious  event,  and  certainly  not  the  less  on  ac- 
count of  its  being  calculated  to  baifie  the  views  of  that  bypocriti- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbetl,  Esq. 

cal  faction,   who  have  still  the   impudence   to  call  themselves 
whigs. 

I  am,  &c.  &c. 

WILLIAM  COBBETT, 
BbDey,  28th  December,  1814. 


AMERICA. 

Mr.  Hunt's  motion)  and  Sir  John  Cox  Hippisley's  speech,  re- 
specting her. — The  Courier's  attack  on  Mr.  Binns,  a  publisher 
at  Philadelphia. 

* 

AT  a  meeting  of  the  county  of  Somerset,  on  the  9th  inst.  a 
curious  occurrence  took  place  with  regard  to  the  peace  with  Ame- 
rica. I  will  first  give  the  account  of  it  from  the  TIMES  newspa- 
per of  the  16th  inst.  and  make  on  it  such  observations  as  most 
naturally  present  themselves.  The  reader  should  first  be  inform- 
ed, however,  that  the  meeting  was  held  for  the  purpose  of  discuss- 
ing a  petition  to  parliament  against  the  property  tax,  or  tax  upon 
income,  which  tax  ought,  by  law,  to  expire  in  a  few  months,  but  of 
which  tax,  it  is  supposed,  the  government  means  to  propose  the 
continuation  or  revival.  The  following  is  the  report  of  the 
Times  : 

"  On  Monday  last,  at  the  meeting  of  the  freeholders,  &c. 
holden  at  Wells,  to  petition  parliament  for  the  repeal  of  the  pro* 
perty  tax,  after  the  business  of  the  day  was  disposed  of,  (an  ac- 
count of  which  has  already  appeared  in  this  paper,)  Mr.  HUNT 
remarked,  that  the  meeting  should  not  disperse  without  expressing 
its  thankfulness  to  those  by  whose  efforts  peace  had  been  made 
between  us  and  America.  He  therefore  read  a  resolution,  which 
he  submitted  for  their  approbation :  '  That  the  thanks  of  this 
meeting  are  due  to  those  by  whose  exertions  peace  with  the  Ame- 
ricans, the  only  remaining  free  people  in  the  world,  has  been  re- 
stored to  this  country.'  Sir  J.  C.  HIPPISLEY  could  see  no  rea- 
son whatever  for  calling  the  Americans  the  only  free  people  in  the 
world,  and  should  certainly  divide  the  meeting  if  the  motion  was 
persisted  in*  It  was  a  LIBEL  on  our  own  country  ;  for  his  part, 
he  HATED  THE  AMERICANS.  They  were  «  set  of  slaves 
to  the  government  of  France,  and — (some  expressions  of  disap- 
probation arose  ;)  when  Mr.  DICKENSON  said,  that  he  certainly 
roust  join  in  deprecating  the  resolution.  He  hoped  the  meeting 
would  not  consent  to  compliment  any  nation  at  the  expense  of  our 
own,  and  of  every  other  on  the  globe.  He  had  considerable  rea- 
son for  believing  that  the  congress  at  Vienna  was  now 

41 


322  Letters  of  William  &obbett,  Esq. 

in  endeavouring  to  unrivet  the  chains  of  the  suffering  Africans  ;  and, 
engaged  as  the  powers  of  Europe  were,  in  so  sacred  a  cause,  he 
could  not  consent  that  any  aspersion,  direct  or  indirect,  should  be 
cast  upon  them.  Mr.  HUNT  then  requested  the  sheriff  to  put  the 
resolution,  which,  upon  the  show  of  hands,  was  negatived  by  a 
very  considerable  majority" 

Whether  there  be  any  free  country  in  the  world  still  remaining, 
besides  the  republic  of  America,  is  a  question  that  I  do  not  choose 
to  decide,  or  to  give  my  opinion  upon.  But  I  cannot  help  observ- 
ing, that  the  question  was  decided  in  the  negative  by  a  meeting 
of  the  county  of  Somerset  only  by  a  "  considerable  majority ;" 
and,  I  must  further  observe,  that  the  report  of  this  "  considera- 
ble majority"  comes  to  us  through  the  Times  newspaper,  that 
channel  of  skunk-like  abuse  of  America,  and  all  that  is  American. 
Let  it  be  remembered,  too,  that  the  power  of  deciding  who  had 
the  majority  lay  wholly  and  absolutely  with  the  sheriff,  who  is 
an  officer  appointed  by  the  crown.  This  being  the  case,  the 
words,  "  considerable  majority,"  will  be  pretty  well  understood 
to  mean  any  thing  but  a  large  majority  ;  and,  perhaps,  some 
people  may  doubt  whether  there  was  any  majority  at  all.  At  any 
rate,  the  county  of  Somerset  divided  upon  the  question  of  whether 
America  was,  or  was  not,  the  only  free  country  left  in  the  world. 
tThis  was,  at  least,  a  question  for  whicji  many  were  in  the  affirma- 
tive. It  was  received  and  put  to  vote  without  any  marks  of  dis- 
approbation ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  he  was  hissed  who  said 
that  he  hated  the  Americans,  and  who  called  them  the  slaves  of 
the  French  government.  And  why,  good  Sir  John,  do  you  hate 
the  Americans  ?  What  have  they  done  to  you  1  You  say  that 
they  are  the  slaves  of  the  government  of  France ;  but  you  do 
not  find  it  convenient  to  produce  any  proof  of  what  you  say. 
This,  Sir  John,  is  one  of  the  old  stale  falsehoods  of  the  Times 
newspaper,  which  you  are  retailing  at  secondhand,  like  a  Grub- 
street  pedler.  You  are,  in  this  instance,  a  poor  crawling  imitator 
of  a  wretched  grinder  of  paid-for  paragraphs.  Prove,  or  attempt 
to  prove,  what  you  say.  Attempt,  at  least,  to  prove,  that  the 
Americans  are  the  slaves,  or  have  been  the  slaves  of  the  French, 
or  you  must  be  content  to  go  about  saddled  with  the  charge  of 
having  made  an  assertion,  without  being  either  able  or  willing  to 
show  it  to  be  true.  I  assert,  that  the  Americans  were  not,  in  any 
shape  or  degree,  subservient  to  France.  I  assert,  that  they  all 
along  acted  the  part  of  a  nation  truly  independent.  I  assert,  that 
they,  in  no  case,  showed  a  partiality  for  the  government  of  Na- 
poleon. If  any  proof  were  wanted  of  their  having  placed  no  re- 
liance upon  France,  we  have  it  in  the  fact,  the  fact  so  honourable, 
so  glorious  to  them,  and  so  unfortunate  for  us  ;  I  mean  the  fact  of 
their  continuing  the  contest  after  Napoleon  was  put  down,  and  still, 
as  firmly  as  before,  refusing  to  give  up  ta  us  one  single 


Letters  of  Willialn  Cobbett,  Esq.  323 

though  they  saw  us  allied  with  all  Europe,  and  though  they  saw 
the  whole  of  our  monstrous  force  directed  against  them,  having  no 
other  enemy  to  contend  with.     This  proves  that  they  placed  no 
reliance  upon  France.     When  they  declared  war,  they  saw  us 
with  a  powerful  enemy  in  Europe.     Upon  that  circumstance  they, 
of  course,  calculated,  as  they  had  a  right  to  do ;  but  when  that 
enemy,  contrary  to  their  expectation,  was  put  down  all  of  a  sudden, 
and  the   whole   of  our  enormous  force  was  bent  against  America, 
she  was  not  intimidated.     She  still  set  us  at  defiance ;  she  faced 
us ;  she  fought  us ;  and,  at  the  end  of  a  few  months,  instead  of 
receiving  a  viceroy  at  Washington,  as  we  had  been  told  she  would, 
she  brought  us  to  make  peace  with  her  without   her  giving  up  to 
us  one  Single  point  of  any  sort.     Deny  this,  if  you  can,  Sir  John, 
and,  if  you  cannot,  answer  to  the  people  of  Somerset  for  the 
speech   which  the   Times  has  published   as   yours.      But,  Sic 
John,  why  do  you  HATE  the  Americans?  You  cannot,  surely, 
hate  them  because  they  pay  their  President  only  about  six  thou- 
sand pounds  a  year,  not  half  so  much  as  our  APOTHECARY  GENE- 
RAL  receives.     You,  surely,  cannot  hate  them  because  they  do 
not  pay  in  the  gross  amount  of  their  taxes  as  much  as  we  pay  foe 
the  mere  collection  and  management  of  ours.     You,  surely,  can- 
not hate  them  because  they  keep  no  sinecure  placemen,  and  no 
pensioners,  except  such  as  have  actually  rendered  them  servi- 
ces, and  to  them  grant  pensions  only  by  vote  of  their  real  repre- 
eeutatives.     You,  surely,  cannot  hate  them  because,  in  their  coun- 
try, the  press  is  realty  free,  and  truth  cannot  be  a  libel.     You, 
surely,  cannot  hate  them  because  they  have  shown  that  a  cheap 
government  is,  in  fact,  the  strongest  of  all  governments,  standing 
in  no  need  of  troops  or  of  treason  laws  to  defend  it,  in  times  even 
of  actual  invasion.     You  may,  indeed,  pity  them,  because   they 
are  destitute  of  the  honour  of  being  governed  by  some  illustrious 
family ;  because  they  are  destitute  of  Dukes,  Royal  and  others,  of 
Most  Noble  Marquises,  of  Earls,  Viscounts, and  Barons;  because 
they  are  destitute  of  Knights  of  the  Garter,  Thistle  and  Bath,  Grand 
Crosses,  Commanders  and  Companions  ;  because  they  are,  in  spite 
of  the  efforts  of  the  Massachusetts  intriguers,  still  destitute  of  Il- 
lustrious  Highnesses,  Right  Honourables,  Honourables,  and  Es- 
quires ;  because  they  are   destitute  of  long  robes  and  big  wigs, 
and  see  their  lawyers,  of  all  ranks,  in  plain  coats  of  gray,  brown, 
or  blue,  as  chance  may  determine  ;  because  they  are  destitute  of 
a  church  established   by  law,  and    of  tyfhes  you ;   may,  indeed, 
pity  the  republicans  on  these  accounts ;  but,   Sir  John,  it  would 
be  cruel  to  hate  them.     To  hate  is  not  the  act  of  a  Christian,  and 
very  illy  becomes  a  man  like  yourself,  who  has  been  a  hero,  a  per- 
fect dragon,  in  combating  the  anti-christian  principles  of  the  French 
Revolution.     Pity  the  Americans,  Sir  John.     Forgive  them,  Sir 
John.     Pray  for  them,  Sir  Johnr,    JBnt  do  not  fate  them,  thou  Kfe 


324  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

and  fortune  defender  of  our  holy  religion.  Pray  that  they  may 
speedily  have  a  King  and  Royal  Family,  with  a  Commander  in 
Chief  and  Field  Marshals  ;  that  they  may  have  a  Civil  List  and 
Sinecures  ;  that  they  may  have  Lords,  Dukes,  Grand  Crosses, 
Clergy,  Regular  Army,  and  Tythes;  pray  for  these  things,  in 
their  behalf,  as  long  as  you  please  ;  pray  that  the  Americans  may 
have  as  good  a  government  as  we  have  ;  but,  because  they  have 
it  not,  do  not  hate  them.  I  was  really  very  happy  to  perceive 
that  you  were  hissed  for  this  sentiment  at  the  county  meeting. 
I  was  happy  to  perceive  it,  because  it  was  a  sign,  that  the  people 
of  England  were  coaling  to  their  senses  upon  this,  the  most  import- 
ant of  all  subjects.  Why  could  you  not  have  expressed  your- 
self in  terms  less  hostile  to  every  generous  and  humane  feeling  ? 
I  confess  that  Mr.  HUNT'S  motion,  though,  if  he  thought  it  true, 
he  was  right  in  making  it,  might  fairly  be  objected  to  by  any  one 
who  thought  differently.  But  you  might  have  reprobated  the 
endeavour  to  describe  England  as  not  free,  (if  you  regarded  her 
as  being  free,)  without  saying  that  you  hated  the  Americans. 
This  it  was  that  shocked  the  meeting;  and,  accordingly, it  hooted 
you,  as  appears  from  the  report,  as  published  even  by  the  Times 
newspaper.  Every  effort  ought  now  to  be  made  to  produce  re- 
conciliation wilh  America ;  and  you  appear  to  have  done  all  that 
you  were  able  to  do  to  perpetuate  the  animosities  engendered  by 
the  war.  Mr.  DICKENSON  managed  his  opposition  to  the  motion 
more  adroitly.  He  observed,  that  (he  holy  war  powers,  now  in 
congress  at  Vienna,  were,  "  he  had  considerable  reason  to  be- 
lieve,'' engaged  in  an  effort  to  unrivet  the  chains  of  the  African 
slave  ;  and,  therefore,  he  could  not  consent  to  any  motion  that 
might  seem  to  glance  against  their  people  being  free.  So  Mr. 
DICKENSON  concluded,  it  seems,  that,  if  the  "  sacred  cause'7 
powers  should  settle  upon  some  general  prohibition  against  the 
increase  of  slaves  in  the  West-Indies,  there  cannot  possibly  re- 
main any  thing  like  slavery  in  Russia,  Prussia,  Poland,  Germany, 
Bohemia,  Transylvania,  Sclavonia,  Italy,  Spain,  or  Portugal. 

I  should  like  to  have  beard  the  chain  of  argument,  through 
which  this  member  for  Somerset  arrived  at  such  a  conclusion 
from  such  premises.  I  suppose  that  it  must  have  been  something 
in  this  way:  That  the  "  sacred  cause"  powers  are  all  perfectly 
sincere  in  their  professions;  that,  being  so,  it  is  impossible  to  be- 
lieve, that  they  would  show  so  much  anxiety  for  the  freeing  of 
the  Africans,  while  they  held  their  own  subjects  in  slavery  ;  and 
that,  therefore,  it  is  impossible  to  believe,  that  the  people  of  Rus- 
sia, Germany,  and  Hungary,  are  not  all  perfectly  free.  I  dare 
say  that  Mr.  Dickenson  said  a  great  deal  more  upon  the  subject, 
and  produced/act*  as  well  as  arguments  to  prove  that  Mr.  HUNT'S 
motion  was  an  unjust  attack  upon  those  powers ;  and  I  confess 
that  it  would  be  a  great  treat  to  me  'to  see  those  fuels  upon  paper. 


Litters  of  ffittiam  Cobbett,  Esq. 


AMERICA  AND  ALGIERS. 

As  (he  war  which  has  now  begun  between  the  ll  democratic 
rulers'9  of  America,  and  the  "  regular  government"  of  Al- 
giers, may  lead  to  important  consequences,  it  is  proper  to  insert 
here  the  grounds  of  this  war,  as  far  as  we  can  come  at  them. 
We  have  the  American  official  accounts  only.  America  has  a 
iell-tale  sort  of  government.  It  has  no  state  secrets.  It  blabs 
out  the  proceedings  in  negotiations,  while  the  negotiators  are 
still  assembled.  Not  so  the  regular  government  of  Algiers, 
which  is  one  of  the  "  ancient  and  venerable  institutions'-  which 
the  Bostonian  noblesse  so  much  admire ;  one  of  the  "  gems  in 
the  crown  of  ancient  glory/'  of  which  Mr  Chateaubriand  speaks 
so  feelingly,  and  so  foolishly ;  one  of  the  links  in  the  chain  of 
the  "  social  system"  which  has  recently  been  under  the  ham- 
mers of  so  many  able  artisans  at  Vienna.  The  regular  govern- 
ment of  Algiers  does  not  make  any  prefaces  to  war.  It  observes 
a  dignified  silence  till  it  has  actually  begun  and  made  some  pro- 
gress in  the  war  !  till  it  has  made  a  good  haul  of  the  enemy's 
ships,  before  he  knows  that  he  is  looked  upon  as  an  enemy. 
This  is  the  practice  of  the  regular  government ;  the  "  ancient 
and  venerable  institution  in  Algiers."  I  shall  now  insert,  first, 
an  account  of  the  grounds  of  war  from  the  National  Intelligen" 
cer,  published  at  Washington ;  next,  the  report  of  congress  on 
the  subject;  and,  last,  the  act  of  congress  declaring  war  against 
Algiers.  For  the  reader  will  observe,  that,  in  the  irregular  go- 
vernment of  America,  war  cannot  be  declared  by  the  chief  ma- 
gistrate, without  the  consent  of  the  people's  real  representatives. 
I  reserve  a  few  remarks  to  follow  the  documents. 

There  is  one  circumstance  connected  with  this  Algerine  war, 
which  I  think  worthy  of  particular  notice  ;  and  that  is,  this  regu- 
lar government  began,  it  appears,  its  depredations  on  the  Ame- 
ricans, just  as  the  latter  were  entering  upon  war  with  US  !  Some 
of  our  modest  and  honourable  gentlemen ;  some  of  our  most 
honourable  men,  have  called  America  an  assassin,  because  she 
made  war  against  us  while  we  were  at  war  against  Napoleon. 
What  will  they  say  now  of  the  venerable  head  of  this  African 
state  ?  The  same  honourable  worthies  have  said,  that  because 
America  went  to  war  wilh  us  while  we  had  to  fight  Napoleon, 
she  was  the  slave  of  Napoleon.  But  I  hope  they  will  not  apply 
this  reasoning  to  the  present  war  between  America  and  Algiers; 
I  fervently  hope,  that  no  one  will  pretend,  that,  because  Algiers 
went  to  war  with  America,  while  America  had  to  fight  with  u.s, 
Algiers  was  the  slave,  of  England  !  As  to  the  result  of  the  war,  I 


328  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

have  no  doubt  that  the  dey  will  not  have  to  rejoice  much  at  the 
success  of  his  undertaking.  A  dry  blow,  instead  of  millions 
of  dollars,  are  likely  to  be  his  portion.  As  an  Englishman,  I 
must  wish  that  the  Algerines  may  be  beaten  by  those  who 
have,  unfortunately,  so  often  beaten  ray  own  countrymen. 

The  TIMES  newspaper  has  told  us,  that  it  is  suspected  that 
the  Algerine  war  is,  with  America,  a  PRETEXT  for  increasing 
her  navy.  Indeed,  doctor !  and  in  what  civilian  have  you  dis- 
covered that  America  is  restrained  from  augmenting  her  navy  at 
her  pleasure  ?  What  need  has  she  of  pretexts  ?  I  know,  indeed, 
that,  amongst  your  other  follies,  you  did,  during  last  summer,  in- 
sist upon  it,  that,  in  making  peace  with  America,  she  should,  at 
least,  be  compelled  to  stipulate  not  to  have  any  ships  of  war  fre- 
yond  a  certain  number.  But  the  stipulation  was  not  obtained  ; 
and,  now,  instead  of  big  menaces,  you  throw  out  your  suspectings 
tor  the -cogitations  of  the  wise  John  Bull.  Away,  driveller!  and 
await  a  similar  fate  to  your  predictions  as  to  the  taking  of  New- 
Orleans. 

_____  t 

LITERARY  FUND  AND  WASHINGTON  BENEVOLENT  SOCIETV. 

I  HAVE  observed  that,  year  after  year,  this  institution  becomes 
more  like  a  common  charity  concern.  A  parcel  of  lords,  and 
other  men  of  purse,  take  the  chair,  and  take  the  lead.  This  last 
meeting  was,  1  see,  presided  over  by  the  duke  of  Kent,  in  the 
same  way  as  the  Lancaster  school  meetings,  and  other  meetings 
for  the  assistance  of  the  poor  and  miserable.  The  consequence 
of  this  must  be,  that  the  poor  devil's  politics  will  serve  as  the 
measure  of  the  bounty  he  is  to  receive.  The  original  design  of 
this  fund  must  be  totally  overlooked.  The  design,  I  believe,  was, 
to  prevent  authors  from  selling  their  pens ;  whereas,  now,  I 
should  suppose  the  principal  design  to  be  to  purchase  the  pens  of 
authors,  or  to  keep  alive  poor  slaves  whose  works  are  well  meant 
towards  their  patrons,  but  destitute  of  the  talent  necessary  to 
make  them  sell.  I  observed,  that  the  "founder's"  health  was 
drank,  and  that  the  "  founder"  Mr.  DAVID  WILLIAMS,  was  not 
named.* 

Mr.  David  Williams  wrote  some  excellent  political  tracts  in 
support  of  the  principles  of  freedom  ;  he  also  translated  some  of 
the  works  of  Voltaire  on  the  subject  of  religion ;  never  did  he 
expect  that  this  institution  would  tumble  into  such  hands  as  have 
now  got  hold  of  it.  The  truth  is,  that  the  scheme  was  a  very 

*  He  was  the  author  of  Lessons  to  a  Young  Prince,  which  have  been  erroneously 
attributed  to  Edmund  Burke. 


Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq.  327 

good  one.  Its  object  and  its  tendency  was  to  encourage  literary 
merit,  and  to  make  aulliors  honest  and  independent ;  but  it  nas 
now  manifestly  been  converted  into  a  sort  of  poor-list  for  decayed 
literary  hacks.  They  tell  the  world  that  they  do  not  publish  the 
names  of  the  parties  who  receive  charity.  They  are  very  wise 
in  this,  for  the  public  would  soon  see  what  the  real  object  of  the 
fund  was,  if  they  could  see  the  names  of  the  persons  relieved. 
In  short,  this,  like  almost  every  other  "  charity,"  as  they  are 
called,  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  an  adjunct  of  the  govern- 
ment, or,  rather,  of  the  si/stem*  What  jacobin,  or  jacobin's  wife, 
(unless  she  first  betrayed  her  husbafitt,')  was  ever  relieved  by  any 
of  these  societies  ?  They  are  kept  up  for  the  purpose  of  keeping1 
the  needy  in  good  humour,  or  of  rewarding  faithful,  decayed 
slaves.  Here  the  man  who  has  paid  a  fortune  in  taxes  oi'ten 
comes,  cap  in  hand,  and  receives  back  the  means  of  getting  a 
dinner. 

It  is  curious  to  observe,  that  the  aristocratic  faction  in  Ame- 
rica have  resorted  to  a  trick  of  this  sort.  They  set  up,  some 
few  years  ago,  a  society,  which  they  called  the  "WASHINGTON 
BENEVOLENT  SOCIETY,"  which,  it  appears,  has  branched  out 
all  over  the  country.  The  object  of  this  trick  was  to  collect  little 
groupes  of  the  most  needy  and  mean-spirited  part  of  the  people, 
and,  by  the  means  of  donations  in  money,  clothes,  books,  and  me- 
dical aid,  to  attach  them  to  the  aspiring  rich,  and  thus  to  found  a 
sort  of  AFFILIATION  against  the  republican  government. 

The  name  of  WASHINGTON  was  taken  for  the  purpose  of  de- 
ception^ and,  as  a  party  word,  opposed  to  the  name  of  FRANKLIN, 
JEFFERSON,  or  MADISON,  who  were  thus  to  be  held  up  as  having 
deviated  from  the  principles  of  the  man  to  whom  American  grati- 
tude has  given  what,  perhaps,  American  wisdom  and  justice  would 
bave  given  largely,  but  certainly  with  a  less  prodigal  hand. 

Availing  themselves  of  this  amiable  weakness,  these  crafty 
enemies  of  their  country* s  freedom  have  been  working  up  the  peo- 
ple here  and  there,  by  the  means  of  these  societies,  to  an  opposi- 
tion to  the  government.  They  hold  their  stated  meetings  as  our 
"charities"  do.  They  make  speei. hes,  compliment  one  another, 
extol  the  virtues  of  Washington,  who,  though  one  of  the  first  of 
patriots,  never  was  fool  enough  to  bestow  his  money  in  the  making 
of  paupers.  Shut  out  of  the  legislative  assemblies  by  the  people's 
voice,  they  harangue  at  these  meetings,  and  thus  continue  to 
keep  themselves  in  wind.  Silly  as  the  thing  is,  however,  in  itself, 
I  would  have  the  Americans  be  upon  their  guard  against  it.  It  is 
aspiring  aristocracy  in  its  most  alluring  guise  ;  it  i.s  imposture  of 
the  most  dangerous  kind.  It  tends  to  the  creating  of  pauperism; 
to  the  forming  of  a  class  in  the  community  who  have  no  interest 
in  supporting  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  nation,  and  who  aie 
to  be  bought  and  sold  like  cattle.  These  societies  ought  to  be 


328  Ltllers  of  Williwn  Cobbeit,  Esq. 

resolutely  attacked  and  exposed.  A  little  matter  would  break 
them  up  amongst  a  sensible  people.  I  wish  I  could  show  the 
people  of  America  the  effects  of  pauperism  in  England  ;  1  wish  I 
could  make  them  see  the  degradation  which  it  has  brought  upon 
the  land  of  their  forefathers  —  there  would  need  nothing  more. 


is  very  much  deceived,  if  he  supposes  that  this  society  is  either  re 
»pected  or  respectable;  it'  he  had  seen  it  march,  on  the  4th  instant,  with  all  the 
advantages  which  a  tesiive  day  could  give  it.  when  every  hand  was  suspended  from. 
labour,  and  \vhen  those  who  abhorred  independence,  and  sickened  at  the  celebra- 
tion. were  compelled,  by  the  force  of  public  sentiment,  to  appear  pleased,  while 
their  hearts  grieved  ;  had  he  seen  the  Peter  Washingtons  on  that  day,  where  every 
notorious  tnry  and  the  underlings  of  English  agency  looked  for  theonh  solace  they 
could  find  in  the  congenial  feeling  oihatred  to  free  and  equal  government,  in  that 
•wretched  club  -Cobbett  would  have  seen  7mm?/  of  his  oiun  abettors,  a  few  of  those 
who  isrote  for  his  Porcupine,  some  who,  during  the  war,  gave,  as  public  toasts,  the 
"  transportation  of  Madison  to  Elba  ;"  a  number  of  poor  boys  in  their  Sunday 
coats;  a  tew  decent  looking  men,  among  whom  the  wreck  of  the  world  had  made 
Lavock,  and  -whose  poverty,  and  not  their  -will,  placed  them  there,  as  the  only  mode 
by  which  certain  kinds  of  business  dependent  911  English  agency  can  be  obtained. 
Tliis  society  is  perfectly  harmless,  in  a  social  and  a  political  light  ;  for,  very  fortu- 
nately, it  is  in  hands  which  always  have  been  distinguished  more  for  blind  zeal  than 
•judgment,  and  whose  folly  renders  it  odious,  even  among  the  most  respectable  and 
sedate  of  the  federalists,  who  are  repressed  by  decorum  from  participating  in  a 
scheme  which  was  set  out  upon  a  suggestion  of  the  English  minister,  Jackson,  com- 
menced at  the  same  point  as  the  Hartford  convention,  and  had  in  view  the  same 
object;  v.hich  in  its  by-laws  betrayed  the  cloven  foot  of  'e  upland,  by  pursuing  the 
rame  system  as  Liston  procured  to  be  set  on  foot  in  1797—8,  and  which  '"obbett 
himself  encouraged  —  the  determination  not  to  employ  in  any  busihess,  nor  tn  deal 
in  any  transactions,  nor  to  countenance  in  public  or  private,  any  citizen  who  did 
not  recognise  the  Washington  Benevolent  Society  —  the  mode  by  which  England  hag 
divided,  and  distracted,  and  ruined  many  nations.]  Jflurora. 


jTo  the  Earl  of  Liverpool — on  the  part  which  America  is  likely 
to  take  in  a  war  between  England  and  France. 

My  Lord, ' 

FROM  several  parts  of  America  I  have  received  thanks 
for  my  letters  to  your  lordship  on  the  subject  of  the  American 
war.  The  people  in  America  think,  or,  at  least,  many  of  them 
think,  that  those  letters  had  great  weight  in  producing  the  peace 
of  Ghent,  than  which  you  and  your  colleagues  never  adopted  any 
measure  more  wise,  nor  in  better  time.  .Yet,  you  have  never 
thanked  me  for  my  advice.  You,  to  whom  the  peace  was  much 
more  necessary  than  to  Mr.  MADISON,  have  never  acknowledged 
your  obligations  to  me — you  have  appeared  to  be  sulky  about  all, 
though  I  taught  you  so  exactly  what  to  do,  in  order  to  avoid  the 
great  evils  which  were  coming  upon  you  from  all  quarters.  The 
consequences  of  the  American  war  were  foretold  by  me  nearly 
two  years  before  the  war  began.  I  told  you  that  you  would  have 
war,  if  you  persevered  in  seizing  men  on  board  of  American 
ships  on  the  high  seas.  You  did  persevere,  and  you  had  war. 
¥  told  you  that  the  Americans  would  beat  you  in  fighting,  if  you 
Continued  the  war  for  two  years.  You  continued  the  war,  ao-d 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  329 

ihey  did  beat  you.  I  told  you  that  you  would  never  have  peace 
if  you  demanded  any  concession  from  America.  You  insisted  on 
great  concessions  on  her  part  as  a  sine  qua  non  of  peace ;  and, 
after  three  months  more,  you  made  peace  by  giving  up  every 
thing,  not  excepting  the  sine  qua  non  itself.  In  short,  you  ex- 
pended fifty  millions  of  money,  and  lost,  I  dare  say,  thirty  thou- 
sand men,  in  accomplishing  nothing,  except  creating  a  navy  in 
America,  causing  her  manufactures  to  flourish,  and  implanting 
in  the  hearts  of  Americans,  for  ages,  a  hatred  of  the  English 
government. 

I  remind  you  of  these  things,  in  order  to  bespeak  your  atten- 
tion on  the  present  subject.  I  shall  here  deal  in  prophecies  again ; 
and  shall  not  be  at  all  afraid  of  proving,  in  the  end,  not  to  have 
been  a  false  prophet.  You  appear  to  me  now  to  be  in  a  very  fair 
way  of  adding  another  six  hundred  millions  to  our  debt,  and  of 
bringing  the  guinea  up  to  forty  shillings,  instead  of  twenty-eight 
shillings,  at  which  point  it  is  now  arrived.  I  wish  to  prevent 
this ;  and  if  I  do  not  succeed,  I  shall,  at  any  rate,  have  these 
pages  to  refer  to,  when  the  mischief  has  taken  place,  and  when 
few  beside  myself  will  be  able  to  say  that  they  did  all  in  their 
power  to  prevent  it. 

I  am  of  opinion,  that  France  alone  is  now,  as  she  was  in  1793, 
more  than  a  match  for  the  coalition  against  her.  But  I  am  fur- 
ther of  opinion,  that,  before  the  war  against  her  be  six  months  old, 
you  will  find  America  taking  apart  in  if,  unless  you  absolutely 
abstain  from  every  thing  that  can  be  construed  into  a  violation  of 
neutral  maritime  rights. 

War,  or  peace,  with  America,  will  depend  upon  the  opinions 
of  the  people  in  that  country.  The  people  there  are  really  and 
truly  represented  in  the  congress.  There  are  no  vile  sham 
elections  in  the  United  States.  That  which  the  people  wills, 
will  be  done.  The  Americans  are  a  sensible  people  ;  they  all 
read  from  a  press  which  is  reallij  free;  they  discuss  all  poli- 
tical matters  freely  ;  they  love  peace ;  they  would  prefer 
peace  ;  they  would  make  some  sacrifices  to  peace  ;  but  they 
will  never  hesitate  a  moment  in  preferring  war  to  slavery  or  de- 
pendence. 

Now,  then,  what  is  likely  to  be  the  view  which  the  Americans 
will  take  of  the  present  scene  in  Europe  ?  And  what  are  likely 
(o  be  their  feelings  with  regard  to  what  is  pasting  in  this  quarter 
of  the  world  ?  It  is  very  easy  for  our  corrupt  press  to  persuade 
the  alarmed  and  selfish  part  of  England,  that  it  is  necessary  to 
plunge  the  country  into  war,  in  order  to  root  out  the  present 
government  of  France.  But  it  will  not  be  so  easy  for  any  body 
to  persuade  the  American  people  that  such  an  undertaking  is  just. 
They  will  see  the  matter  in  its  true  light  ;  they  will  see  that 
Napoleon  has  been  replaced  at  the  head  of  the  government,  bv 

42 


33.0  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

the  will  of  the  people  of  France  ;  they  will  see  that  he  has  had 
the  wisdom  and  virtue  to  abandon  his  ambitious  projects  ;  they 
will  see  that  he  has  voluntarily  confined  himself  within  the  ancient 
limits  of  France  ;  they  will  see  that  he  has  tendered  the  olive 
branch  to  all  surrounding  nations ;  they  will  see  that  he  means  to 
contend  solely  for  the  independence  of  France  ;  they  will  see 
that  he  has  returned,  as  nearly  as  circumstances  will  permit,  to 
the  principles  of  1 789  ;  they  will  see  that  he  has  provided  for 
the  people  being  really  represented  in  Hie  legislature  ;  they  will 
see  that  there  is  to  be  no  religious  persecution,  and  no  predomi- 
nant church  in  France ;  they  will  see  that  the  French  people 
have  derived  great  benefits  from  the  revolution,  and  that  now 
all  these  benefits  are  to  be  confirmed  to  them  ;  in  France  they 
will  see  a  free  people,  and  in  Napoleon,  they  will  see  the  soldier 
of  freedom. 

On  the  other  hand,  they  will  ask,  what  right  England,  or 
any  other  power,  can  have  to  interfere  in  the  internal  affairs  of 
France  ?  They  will  ask,  why  England  should  not  treat  with  him 
now,  as  well  as  at  Amiens ;  why  not  treat  with  him  as  well  as 
with  the  directory  at  Lille  ?  They  will  ask,  why  England  should 
refuse  to  treat  with  him,  from  whom  she  received  the  islands  of 
Ceylon  and  Trinidad  ?  They  will  ask,  what  can  be  the  real  ob- 
ject, the  ultimate  object,  of  a  coalition  of  those  powers  who 
were  assembled  at  Vienna,  and  who  were  disposing  qf  states  at 
their  pleasure  ? 

The  Americans  have  seen  the  republic  of  Genoa  given  to  the 
king  of  Sardinia;  they  have  seen  Poland  parcelled  out  between 
Prussia,  Russia,  and  Austria ;  they  have  seen  the  fleet  of  Den- 
mark taken  away  ;  they  have  seen  the  people  of  the  republic  of 
Holland  sunk  into  the  subjects  of  a  king  ;  they  have  seen  the 
republic  of  Venice  transferred  to  the  emperor  of  Austria ;  they 
have  seen  the  pope  replaced  with  the  Jesuits  at  his  heels ;  they 
have  seen,  that  in  Spain,  where  a  free  constitution  had  been 
formed  by  men  who  had  been  fighting  on  our  side,  the  king  has 
been  brought  back ;  that  he  has  destroyed  this  constitution  ;  that 
he  has  treated  the  makers  of  it  as  traitors  ;  that  he  has  re-estab- 
lished the  inquisition  which  Napoleon  had  abolished  ;  that  when 
two  of  the  alleged  traitors  took  shelter  in  Gibraltar,  they  were 
given  up  to  their  hunters,  and  that  when  complaint  of  this  was 
made  in  our  parliament,  the  reply  was,  that  "  we  had  no  right 
to  interfere  in  the  domestic  affairs  of  Spain."  The  Americans 
will  ask,  why  this  principle  is  not  applied  to  the  domestic  affairs 
of  France?  They  will  ask,  not  for  vile,  foul-mouthed  abuse  of 
Napoleon  and  the  French  people  ;  but  for  some  proof  of  our 
right  to  interfere  against  him. 

Having  seen  all  these  things ;  having  seen  what  we  and  our 
allies  have  been  at  in  every  part  of  Europe  ;  having  seen  that  the 


Letters  of  William  Cobbetl*  Esq.  _  331 

people  of  France  is  the  only  people  in  Europe  living  under  a  go- 
vernment approaching  towards  a  resemblance  to  their  own  ;  they 
will  want  very  little  to  assist  them  in  forming  a  correct  opinion  aa 
to  the  real  object  of  the  war  against  France,  if  such  war  should 
now,  without  provocation  on  the  part  of  France,  be  resolved  on, 

It  appears  to  me,  therefore,  that  the  American  people  will,  at 
least,  feel  great  interest  in  this  war,  much  greater  than  they  felt 
in  the  last  war  ;  and  that  as  they  have  just  laid  down  their  arms, 
after  a  contest  in  defence  of  their  maritime  rights,  they  will,  the 
moment  they  hear  of  this  war,  prepare  again  for  that  deferrce. 
America,  in  all  likelihood,  will  again  be  the  only  neutral  nation. 
There  will  be  no  Berlin  and  Milan  decrees  to  give  a  pretence 
for  Orders  in  Council.  So  that,  if  we  trench  upon  her  rights, 
her  ground  of  war  will  be  cleared  of  all  confusion.  She  will  stand 
upon  her  indisputable  rights ;  anil,  if  she  be  left  in  the  full  and 
free  enjoyment  of  her  advantages  as  a  neutral  power,  she  will 
carry  on  three-fourths  of  the  commerce  of  the  world.  Our  cruisers 
may  keep  at  sea,  but  it  will  be  only  to  witness  the  increase  of 
her  mercantile  marine,  and  all  the  proofs  of  her  wonderful  pros- 
perity. France  will  receive  all  that  she  wants  from  foreign  coun- 
tries by  American  ships.  America  will  supply  her  with  colonial 
produce,  and  with  certain  articles  of  manufacture.  The  latter ' 
will,  through  the  same  channel,  find  an  outlet  for  much  of  her 
abundant  produce.  These  two  countries  will  become  much  more 
closely  connected  than  ever,  and  we  should  come  out  of  the  war 
shorn  of  our  means,  while  the  means,  of  all  sorts,  of  America,  would 
be  found  to  be  prodigiously  increased. 

But,  my  lord,  is  it  quite  certain  that  the  people  of  America 
would  not  feel  strongly  disposed  to  take  part  in  this  war  against 
us  T  They  see  that  France  is  the  only  country  left  with  a  govern- 
ment resembling  their  own.  Great  as  is  their  distance  from  Eu- 
rope, they  have  felt  that,  when  left  to  be  dealt  with  single-handed, 
their  very  existence,  as  an  independent  nation,  was  put  in  jeopardy. 
There  were  many  persons  in  America  who  loudly  blamed  the  pre- 
sident, Washington,  for  not  taking  part  with  the  French,  even  when 
America  had  not  a  single  public  ship  of  war.  They  reasoned 
thus  :  That  England  was,  from  the  nature  of  her  force,  as  well  as 
the  situation  of  her  dominions,  the  only  enemy  that  America  had 
to  fear ;  that  she  had  never  ceased  to  demonstrate  a  hostile  mind 
towards  America ;  that  she  saw,  in  America,  not  only  a  success- 
ful example  of  democratic  revolution,  but  a  dangerous  rival  iu 
commerce  and  maritime  power  ;  that  she  only  waited  for  A  favour' 
able  moment  to  use  all  her  force  to  crush  this  rising  rival ;  and, 
therefore,  it  was  less  dangerous  to  declare,  at  once,  for  the  repub- 
lic of  France,  and  make  common  cause  with  her,  than  to  wait  the 
issue  of  the  contest ;  in  which,  if  France  should  fall,  A'merica 


332  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

could  not  long  survive,  without,  at  least,  another  long  and  bloody 
war  upon  her  own  soil. 

This  was  the  reasoning  against  neutrality,  in  1 793.  How  these 
reasoners  must  have  triumphed,  in  1814!  when  they  saw  all 
ground  of  dispute  between  England  and  America  removed  by  the 
close  of  the  war  in  Europe ;  when  they  saw  that,  instead  of  this 
producing  in  England  a  disposition  to  make  peace,  it  only  produced 
redoubled  activity  in  the  war ;  when  they  read,  in  the  very  same 
English  newspaper  that  told  them  of  the  abdication  of  Napoleon, 
that  NOW,  NOW,  NOW  !  was  the  happy  moment  for  crushing 
America;  for  putting  an  end  to  "  the  existence  of  the  mischievous 
example  of  democratic  rebellion'*  exhibited  in  the  American  Union ; 
when  they  heard  their  president,  and  the  majority  of  the  congress, 
denominated,  in  these  same  papers,  "rebels  and  traitors  ;"  when 
they  saw,  in  the  report  of  a  speech  of  a  lord  of  the  admiralty,  that 
Mr.  MADISON  was  to  be  deposed,  as  Napoleon  had  been  deposed ; 
when  they  saw  the  breaking  up  of  the  American  Union  represent- 
ed as  absolutely  necessary  to  the  well-governing  of  other  nations  ; 
when  they  saw  the  fleet  called  upon  officially  by  the  lords  of  the 
admiralty  to  finish  Ihe  American  war,  in  such  a  way  as  would 
ensure  the  LASTING  TRANQUILLITY  OF  THE  CIVI- 
LIZED WORLD  ;  when  they  heard  the  English  prints  call 
upon  the  people  of  New-England  to  separate  themselves  from  the 
union  ;  when  they  heard  it  predicted,  in  these  prints,  that  Mr. 
MADISON  would  be  put  to  death,  and  that  the  people  would  form 
a  connexion  with  the  PARENT  state  ;  and  when,  upon  the  heels 
of  all  these  predictions  and  threats,  they  saw  an  arm}7  actually 
sent  off  from  France  to  fight  against  America;  when  they  saw 
that  identical  army,  which  had  been  engaged  against  Napoleon, 
sent  to  invade  America  by  the  way  of  Lake  Champlain ;  when 
they  saw  the  war  of  fire  and  plunder  carried  on  upon  their  sea- 
coast  ;  when  those  who  were  for  war  on  the  side  of  the  French 
republic,  in  1T93,  saw  all  these  things,  in  1814,  how  they  must 
have  triumphed  ! 

America  must  feel  great  confidence  in  herself  from  her  past 
achievements.  The  skill  and  bravery  of  her  seamen  and  land 
troops  must  give  her  great  confidence.  But  there  is  no  man  who 
reflects,  (and  the  Americans  are  a  reflecting  people,)  who  will  not 
perceive  that,  with  all  her  valour  and  all  her  virtue,  America  has 
had  a  very  narrow  escape  ;  and  that,  if  all  had  been  quite  settled 
in  Europe,  she  would  have  had  to  carry  on  a  much  longer  and 
more  bloody  contest.  It  cannot  but  be  evident  to  the  American 
statesman,  that  if  France  were  to  be  completely  subdued  ;  if  she 
were  reduced  to  that  state  to  be  obliged  to  receive  a  ruler  dictated 
by  us  and  our  allies ;  if  her  hands  and  feet  were  thus  tied  for 
ages  ;  and  if  the  situation  of  all  Europe  were  such  as  to  leave  the 
™?hole  undivided  power  of  England  to  be  employed  against  Ame- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  333 

rica,  the  situation  of  the  latter  would  be,  at  least,  very  unpleasant, 
not  to  say  precarious.  And  if  such  a  person  considers  what 
were  the  real  objects  of  England  in  1814,  the  manner  in  which 
the  war  terminated,  and  what  an  excellent  memory  she  has,  he 
must  be  a  bold  man  indeed  if  he  feel  no  apprehensions  at  the  total 
subjugation  of  France. 

it  has  not  been  forgotten  in  America,  that  directly  after  the  ab- 
dication of  Napoleon,  there  appeared  an  article  in  our  newspa- 
pers, stating,  that  there  was  a  SECRET  ARTICLE  in  the 
TREATY  OF  PARIS,  stipulating,  that  none  of  the  parties,  Russia, 
Prussia,  Austria,  and  France,  should  interfere  in  our  war  against 
America.  This  news  was  given  as  copied  from  the  Vienna  Ga- 
zette. The  Vienna  Gazette  is  under  the  immediate  control  of  the 
government  there.  The  Americans  paid  great  and  deserved  at- 
tention to  this :  and  must  they  not  have  lamented  to  see  France 
reduced  to  such  a  stale  ?  They  afterwards  saw  that  there  was  no 
safety  for  their  ships  of  war,  or  their  prizes,  in  the  ports  of  France. 
They  saw,  in  short,  that  the  Bourbons,  holding  their  power  al- 
most at  the  mercy  of  England,  afforded  not  the  smallest  hope  of 
any  support  against  so  formidable  a  power  as  England.  Then  it 
was  that  many  Americans  blamed  Mr.  MADISON,  not  for  resisting 
the  exercise  of  our  alleged  right  of  impressment ;  but,  on  the 
contrary,  for  not  having  sooner  made  war  against  us  in  alliance 
with  France.  They  told  him  that  he  was,  at  last,  in  a  state  to  be 
able  to  appreciate  the  wisdom  of  keeping  aloof  from  France,  on 
account  of  the  title  of  her  ruler.  They  laughed  at  him  for  his 
scruples  to  make  common  cause  with  an  emperor,  while  we  saw- 
England  having  allies  in  the  Turk,  the  Pope,  the  Algerines,  and 
the  Indians ;  and  they  laughed  at  him  the  more,  when  they  recol- 
lected that  America  had  won  her  independence  while  in  an  al- 
liance, offensive  and  defensive,  with  a  Bourbon  king  of  France. 

However,  many  of  the  causes  which  kept  America  aloof  from 
France  are  now  removed.  The  principles  of  1793  are  again 
adopted  in  France ;  the  system  of  reforming,  by  means  of  con- 
quest, is  abandoned ;  Napoleon  will  have  learnt  how  to  respect 
the  rights  and  to  value  the  character  of  America.  Experience 
has  taught  the  Americans  what  they  have  to  expect  under  certain 
circumstances.  The  latter  are  in  no  danger  from  France  ;  they 
never  can  be  in  danger  from  France  ;  and  Frenchtown  and  Alex- 
andria will  remind  them  what  danger  they  are  in  from  England. 

It  is  said,  by  some  persons  in  America,  that  though  it  might 
have  been  wise  to  seek  permanent  security,  in  1793,  by  entering 
into  the  war  on  the  side  of  the  republic  of  France,  it  would  not 
be  wise  now,  seeing  that  America  has  become  so  much  more  able 
to  defend  herself  than  she  was  in  1793,  a  proof  of  which  she  has 
given  in  her  recent  war  against  the  undivided  force  of  England. 
On  the  other  hand  it  is  contended,  that,  though  America  be  *r 


334  Letters  of  William  Uobbeit,  Esq. 

much  more  powerful  than  she  was  in  1T93,  England,  loaded  as 
she  is  with  debts  and  taxes,  is  more  formidable  than  she  would 
have  been  in  1793,  even  if  she  had  then  subdued  France  ;  for 
though  the  people  of  England  suffer,  the  government  has  more 
force  at  its  command  ;  and,  what  is  more  for  its  advantage,  the 
country  is  brought  into  that  sort  of  state  which  makes  war  almost 
necessary.  If  her  paupers  have  increased  three-fold,  her  armed 
men  and  her  means  of  destruction  have  increased  five-fold.  She 
is  become  a  nation  of  fighters.  She  possesses  all  the  means  of 
destroying.  And,  say  these  reasoners,  it  is  not  only  subjugation 
against  which  America  ought  to  guard  ;  it  is  her  duty  to  guard  her- 
self also  against  devastation  and  plunder.  Besides,  say  they, 
England  has  now  less  powerful  motives  to  the  exercise  of  forbear- 
ance towards  America.  While  the  latter  was  without  manufac- 
tures ;  while  England  had  almost  a  monopoly  in  the  supplying  of 
America  ;  the  former  saw  in  the'prosperity  of  the  latter  the  means 
of  augmenting  her  own  riches  and  power.  But  norv  the  case  is 
ditferent ;  England  sees  in  America  even  a  manufacturing  rival  ; 
and,  what  is  still  more  provoking,  she  sees  in  America  a  rival  in. 
naval  power  and  renown.  Therefore,  say  they,  she  must  and 
she  will  desire  our  destruction ;  whether  she  will  attempt  it  again 
will  depend  upon  her  and  our  means  of  attack  and  resistance. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  our  infamous  newspapers  have  given 
but  too  much  reason  to  the  Americans  upon  this  head.  For  they 
have  published  lists  of  the  American  navy,  and  accounts  of  the 
American  shipping  and  manufactures  ;  and,  having  dwelt  upon 
their  magnitude,  and  on  their  rapid  increase,  they  have  called 
upon  your  lordship  and  your  colleagues  to  prosecute  the  war  for 
the  purpose  of  destroying  these  evidences  of  rising  power  and 
wealth.  They  have  contended  that  it  was  just  to  carry  on  war 
against  America ;  to  destroy  her  navy ;  to  destroy  her  shipping 
and  manufactures  ;  and  to  obtain,  at  least,  a  stipulation  from  her 
not  to  build  ships  of  war  beyond  a  certain  number  and  a  certain 
size.  They  have  contended  that  such  a  war  would  be  just;  that 
we  should  have  a  right  to  impose  such  conditions  ;  aud  that  our 
safety  demanded  that  we  should. 

If  I  am  told  that  these  are  the  sayings  of  a  set  of  foolish  wri- 
ters in  newspapers,  my  answer  is,  that  I  have  seldom  seen  any  of 
these  people  promulgate  any  political  opinion  without  its  being,  in 
the  sequel,  very  clear  to  me,  that  it  was  not  in  their  own  foolish 
heads  that  the  sentiment  had  been  hatched.  These  men  are,  in 
fact,  nothing  of  themselves ;  they  have  no  principles,  no  opinions  ; 
they  care  nothing  about  the  matter.  They  are  the  mere  tools  of 
those  who  speak  through  them,  whom  they  not  unfrequeritly  de- 
spise, but  from  whom,  and  through  the  means  of  whom,  they  live 
comfortably,  and  some  times  get  rich* 


Letters  of  William  Cobbeil,  Esq.  335 

Upon  (he  whole,  therefore,  my  lord,  it  is  not  to  be  apprehend- 
ed, that,  if  we  make  war  upon  France  for  the  avowed  purpose  of 
deposing  Napoleon,  the  people  of  America  will  feel  a  strong  dis- 
position to  take  part  with  France  in  that  war.  And,  if  they  were 
so  to  do,  have  we  not  great  cause  to  fear,  that  the  war  would  be 
extremely  injurious  to  us  by  sea  as  well  as  by  land  ?  The  Ameri- 
can privateers,  though  without  a  port  to  take  shelter  in  oifthisside 
of  the  Atlantic,  did  great  mischief  to  our  commerce  even  in  the 
channel.  What,  then,  would  they  do  if  all  the  ports  of  France 
were  open  to  them,  and  shut  against  us  ?  If,  in  short,  America  were 
in  alliance  with  France,  what  English  ship,  unarmed,  could  hope  to 
escape  capture  ?  And,  is  it  to  be  hoped,  that,  in  such  a  case,  the 
skill,  the  discipline,  and  undaunted  bravery  of  the  American  navy 
would  not  be  communicated  to  that  of  France  ?  Emulation  might 
do  a  great  deal  towards  sending  forth  fleets  able,  in  a  short  time, 
to  cope  with  those  of  England.  Really,  if  we  wish  to  keep  these 
two  nations  asunder,  it  appears  to  me  that  we  have  no  way  of  ac- 
complishing the  wish  but  that  of  keeping  at  peace. 

It  America  were  to  join  France  in  the  war,  we  should,  doubt- 
less, tell  her,  that  she  was  acting  a  very  base  part';  that  she  had 
received  from  us  no  provocation ;  that  AVC  had  not  meddled  with 
her ;  that  we  had  expressed  our  anxious  desire  to  live  at  peace 
with  her.  But,  my  lord,  might  she  not  answer  ? — very  true  ;  and 
you  have  received  no  provocation  from  France  ;  France  has  not 
meddled  with  you ;  France  has  expressed  her  anxious  desire  to 
live  at  peace  with  you ;  and  yet  you  have  gone  to  war  againsf 
France  : — if,  therefore,  it  be  base  on  my  part  to  make  war  upon 
you,  after  you  have  begun  war  upon  France,  where  is  your  justi- 
fication for  having  begun  that  war  ?  Besides,  have  you  no  ally  ? 
You  boast  of  having  all  Europe  on  your  side.  And  shall  France 
have  no  ally  ?  Shall  you  have  twenty  allies  against  the  old  ally  of 
America ;  and  shall  it  be  deemed  base  in  America  to  become  the 
only  ally  of  France  ?  You  say  that  yours  is  a  war  of  precaution; 
so  is  mine.  You  fear  that  Napoleon  may,  one  day  or  other,  get 
to  London ;  and  you  have  been  at  Washington,  at  Frenchtown, 
and  at  Alexandria. 

It  is  a  favourite  saying,  or  it  used  to  be,  in  America,  that  it 
was  her  true  policy  to  keep  aloof  from  European  politics  and 
wars.  General  Washington  several  times  expressed  this  senti- 
ment. But  can  she  do  it  ?  If  General  Washington  had  seen  the 
congress  house  in  flames,  the  other  day,  and  had  seen  our  people 
so  busy  in  packing  up  goods  at  Alexandria,  he  would,  I  imagine, 
have  begun  to  think,  that  it  was  not  so  easy  a  matter  to  keep  aloof 
from  European  wars  ;  and  if  he  had  lived  to  be  made  acquainted 
with  the  famous  Captain  HENRY's  exploits,  I  think  he  would 
have  had  his  doubts  as  to  the  possibility  of  keeping  aloof  from 
European  politics.  Even  we,  in  England,  say,  that  America 


336  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

should  keep  at  peace,  though  we  ourselves  are  always  at  war  'in 
some  part  or  other  of  the  world ;  though  there  is  no  war  in  which 
we  have  not  a  hand.  The  truth  is,  that  America  must  take  a 
part  in  the  wars  and  politics  of  Europe.  Here  are  powers  in  Eu- 
rope who  can  reach  her,  who  have  colonies  in  her  neighbourhood, 
who  have  an  interest,  or  think  they  have  an  interest,  in  injuring 
her.  They  combine  and  co-operate  with  one  another ;  and  she 
must  form  alliances  too ;  or  she  cannot  be  many  years  an  inde- 
pendent nation. 

It  was  impudently  asserted,  not  long  ago,  that  America  had  act- 
ed afoul  part  towards  us,  in  the  war;  and  she  was  called  an  as- 
sassin, who  had  attacked  us  in  the  dark.  I  was  pleased  to  hear, 
from  such  a  quarter,  a  sentiment  of  abhorrence  against  assassins  ; 
but  I  was  displeased  to  hear  such  an  act  attributed  to  America ; 
because  no  charge  was  ever  more  false.  It  is  notorious  that  Ame- 
rica used  every  effort,  and  made  every  sacrifice,  short  of  a  surren- 
der of  her  independence,  to  maintain  peace  with  England;  and 
lhat,  so  far  from  attacking  us  in  the  dark,  she  gave  us  notice,  for 
years  beforehand,  that  she  would  repel,  by  force,  our  seizure  of 
her  seamen,  unless  we  ceased  that  practice.  What,  then,  could 
be  meant  by  this  charge  of  assassin-like  conduct  ?  Really,  we 
seem  to  have  taken  into  our  heads,  like  the  cock  on  the  dunghill, 
lhat  all  the  world  was  made  for  us!  that  no  nation  is  to  form  an 
alliance,  nor  even  to  think  of  defending  itself  by  its  own  arms,  if 
we  disapprove  of  it.  When  our  interest,  real  or  imaginary,  is  in 
question,  the  interest  of  no  other  nation  is  to  be  thought  of.  The 
question  with  America,  according  to  this  presumptuous  whim,  was 
to  be,  not  whether  she  suffered  injury  ;  but  merely  whether  it 
was  conducive  to  our  interest  to  impress  her  sailors.  If  it  was 
useful  to  us  to  do  this,  she  was  to  deserve  annihilation  if  she  did 
not  quietly  submit  to  it,  and  to  all  its  cruel  and  degrading  conse- 
quences. 

We  proceed  upon  the  same  notion  with  regard  to  alliances 
amongst  foreign  powers.  What !  America  make  alliances  with 
any  power  but  us !  Dreadful  presumption  !  Presumption  which 
merits  all  the  weight  of  our  vengeance  !  What !  America  seek 
safety,  when  we  think  it  best  to  keep  her  in  continual  danger ! 
America  make  an  alliance  for  the  purpose  of  defending  herself 
against  us,  whose  public  writers,  at  least,  devoted  her  chief  ma- 
gistrate to  the  gibbet,  and  herself,  to  a  return  under  the  mild  pro- 
tection of  "  the  PARENT  state!"  Nor  are  there  wanting  wri- 
ters in  America  to  hold  the  same  language  ;  but  they  are  met  by 
men  who  are  able  to  contend  against  them.  There  the  press  is 
free,  really  free  ;  and  there  truth  will  prevail. 

A  good  specimen  of  this  insolent  way  of  talking  was  given  by 
Sir  John  Cox  Hippeslfy,  who,  at  a  late  county-meeting  in  So- 
mersetshire, said,  that  the  Americans,  or,  at  least,  their  presi- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

tleut,  and  the  majority  of  the  congress,  were  the  slaves  of  the 
late  tyrant  of  France,  a  proof  of  which  they  had  given  in  their 
fete  mar  against  us.  So,  because  America,  in  defence  of  her- 
self, went  to  war  with  us,  while  we  were  at  war  against  Napoleon, 
she  was  to  be  deemed  the  slave  of  Napoleon,  who  had  no  power 
to  hurt  her,  and  who  had  never  called  on  her  to  go  to  war  in  his 
behalf.  She  was  to  stop  till  our  war  with  him  n;«s  at  an  end, 
before  she  sought  to  defend  herself.  It  was  baseness  in  her  to  as- 
sert her  own  rights,  at  the  end  of  many  years  of  complaint,  be- 
cause we  were  at  war  with  Napoleon. 

This  insolent  language,  my  lord,  is  liltie  calculated  to  heal  the 
wounds  of  America.  She  wHl,  in  spite  of  all  we  can  say,  re- 
flect on  her  past  danger,  and  she  must  have  lost  her  usual  wisdom 
ki  profiting  from  experience,  if  she  does  not  now  seek  the  means 
of  security  betimes.  That,  with  all  her  natural  reluctance  to 
war,  she  will  be  disposed  to  do  this,  I  am  certain ;  and  it  will, 
I  imagine,  require  but  a  slight  provocation  to  induce  her  to  act 
upon  that  disposition.  It  has  been  announced  to  us,  that  Swit- 
zerland has  been  informed  that  there  are  to  be  no  neutrals  in  this 
war  against  Napoleon.  Hamburgh,  Tuscany,  Genoa,  and  several 
other  states,  felt  the  effects  of  such  a  principle  during  the  first 
war  against  republican  France.  Denmark  felt  those  effects  dur- 
ing the  last  war.  America  will  consider  of,  and  judge  from  the 
past ;  and  your  lordship  may  be  assured,  that  she  will  not  want 
the  means  of  doing  what  her  permanent  safety  shall  manifestly 
demand. 

I  have  thus,  my  lord,  stated  to  you,  what  I  think  will  be  the 
view  that  the  people  of  America  will  take  of  the  present  scene  ; 
what  I  think  will  be  their  feelings  ;  and  I  have  pointed  out  the 
consequences  which  I  apprehend  from  those  feelings,  if  we  enter 
upontthe  war  against  France  on  the  ground  which  is  at  present  set 
forth.  The  Americans,  I  repeat,  are  prone  to  peace,  as  every 
uncorrupted  nation  is  ;  but  as  it  was  said,  the  other  evening,  that 
it  was  better  to  go  to  war  now,  with  a  strong  alliance  on  our  side, 
than  be  compelled  to  go  to  war  at  the  end  of  an  exhausting  armed 
peace,  without  allies ;  as  this  was  deemed  triumphant  reasoning, 
in  England,  in  behalf  of  offensive  war,  you  must  not  be  surprised 
if  it  be  imitated,  in  America,  in  behalf  of  a  war  of  defence. 

I  am,  &c.  &c. 

WII.TIA.M  POBBETT 

BGtley,  May  6,  1815. 


43 


33.8  Letters  of  William  Cobbdl,  Esq. 


To  the  Earl  of  Liverpool — on  the  political  effects  produced  in 
America  by  the  peace  of  Ghent, 

My  Lord, 

IT  was  frequently  observed  by  me,  in  former  letters, 
which  I  had  the  honour  to  address  to  your  lordship,  during  the 
war  with  America,  that  if  you  were,  at  last,  as  I  foretold  you 
would  be,  compelled  to  make  peace  without  humbling  America, 
and,  indeed,  without  subduing  her,  or  nearly  subduing  her,  the 
result  would  be  honourable  to  her,  seeing  that  she  would,  in  a  war 
single-handed  against  England,  have  succeeded  in  defending  her- 
self. It  was  clear,  that  when  once  the  contest  became  a  single, 
combat,  to  defend  herself  must  be  to  her  triumph,  and  to  us  de- 
Jeat.  And  if  she  came  out  of  the  war  without  any,  even  the 
smallest  concession,  her  triumph  over  us  must  raise  her  greatly 
in  the  estimation  of  her  own  people,  and  of  all  the  world.  She 
did  come  out  of  the  war  in  this  way;  and  the  natural  conse- 
quences have  followed. 

I  do  not  know  that  I  have  before  noticed  the  fact  in  print,  but 
it  is  now  time  that  I  should  ;  I  mean  the  curious  fact  relative  to 
the  proclamation  of  peace  with  America.  We  know  that  peace 
with  any  power  is  usually  proclaimed  by  HERALDS,  who, 
starting  at  St.  James'  Palace,  g"o  into  the  city,  with  a  grand  dis- 
play of  armorial  ensigns,  accompanied  by  troops  in  gay  at- 
tire, and  by  bands  of  martial  music,  stopping,  from  time  to  time, 
to  read  the  king's  proclamation  of  the  peace.  This  was  done  at 
the  peace  of  Amiens,  and  at  the  peace  of  Paris.  Indeed,  it  is 
the  usual  way  in  which  the  cessation  of  war  is  proclaimed. 

Now,  then,  how  was  the  peace  with  America  proclaimed  ? 
There  was  no  procession  at  all ;  there  was  nothing  of  the  usual 
ceremony.  But  the  COURIER  newspaper,  and,  I  believe,  that 
paper  only,  informed  the  public,  that  "  peace  with  America  was 
proclaimed  to-day,  by  reading  the  Proclamation,  in  the  USUAL 
WAY,  at  the  door  of  the  Office  at  Whitehall."  This  was  all, 
and  I  will  be  bound,  that  even  the  people  passing  in  the  street 
did  not  know  what  it  was  that  was  reading.  This  is  what  the 
COURIER  calls  the  usual  way  of  proclaiming  peace  !  There  was 
no  illuminations  ;  no  firing  of  guns  ;  no  ringing  of  bells  ;  no  de- 
monstration of  joy.  In  short,  the  country  which  had  been  so 
eager  for  the  war,  and  so  unanimous  for  its  prosecution,  seemed 
not  at  all  to  regret  that  it  never  knew  the  exact  period  when 
peace  returned.  It  felt,  ashamed  of  the  result  of  the  war,  and 
was  glad  to  be  (old  nothing  at  all  about  it. 

But,  in  America  !  There  the  full  force  of  public  feeling  was 
made  manifest.  The  country  resounded  from  New-Orleans  to 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  339 

the  utmost  borders  of  the  lakes;  from  the  orange  groves  to  the 
xv heat  lands  buried  four  feet  deep  in  snow,  was  heard  the  voice 
of  joy,  the  boast  of  success,  the  shout  of  victory.  I,  who  had 
always  felt  anxious  for  the  freedom  of  America ;  I,  whose  pre- 
dictions have  been  so  completely  fulfilled  in  the  result  of  this 
contest ;  even  I,  cannot  keep  down  all  feeling  of  mortification  at 
these  demonstrations  of  triumph,  related  in  the  American  prints 
now  before  me.  Even  in  me,  the  Englishman  so  far  gets  the  bet- 
ter of  all  other  feelings  and  consideration.  What,  then,  must 
be  the  feelings  of  those,  my  lord,  mho  urged  on,  and  who  prose- 
cuted that  fatal  war? 

An  American  paper  now  before  me,  the  Boston  "  Yankee" 
of  the  9th  of  December  last,  gives  an  account,  copied  from  our 
London  papers,  of  our  Jubilee  last  summer,  when  "  old  BLU- 
CHBR"  was  so  squeezed  and  hugged,  and  had  his  jaws  so  nastily 
licked  over  by  the  filthy  women,  who  were  called  "  ladies." 
This  Yankee  calls  it  "  John  Bull's  great  national  jubilee ;" 
and,  I  assure  you,  the  famous  victory  gained  by  the  naval  force 
of  England  over  the  American  fleet  on  the  Serpentine  River  is 
not  forgotten  !  But  the  editor  of  the  Yankee  has  made  a  mistake. 
He  thought  it  was  the  Thames  on  which  that  memorable  battle 
was  fought.  Not  so,  good  Mr.  Yankee.  The  Serpentine  River, 
as  it  is  called,  is  a  little  winding  lake  in  Hyde  Park,  about  the 
width  of  a  large  duck  pond,  and  is  fed  by  a  little  stream,  or, 
rather,  gutter,  and  empties  itself  by  the  means  of  another  gutter 
at  the  other  end.  It  was  this  quality  of  lake  that  made  the  scene 
so  very  apt. 

These  are  mortifying  recollections,  my  lord ;  and  I  do  not  know 
that  they  will  be  rendered  less  so  to  you  by  the  addition  of  the 
reflection,  that,  if  you  had  fallowed  my  advice,  there  never 
would  have  been  any  ground  for  them. 

The  political  effects  in  America  of  such  a  peace  must  be  won- 
derful. Indeed,  they  evidently  are  so.  The  men  who,  in  the 
New- England  states,  were  forming  open  combinations  against  Mr. 
Madison,  are,  as  I  told  you  they  would  be,  covered  with  that 
sort  of  disgrace,  that  deep  disgrace,  which  defeated  malice  al- 
ways brings  upon  its  head.  They  appear,  from  all  I  can  gather, 
to  have  become  the  butt  of  ridicule,  after  having  long  been  the 
object  of  serious  censure.  These  men  are  suspected  of  treason- 
able views  and  acts.  At  any  rate,  they  are  chargeable  with  a 
real  attempt  to  destroy  the  liberties  of  their  country,  in  revenge 
for  their  rejection  by  the  people.  They  were  defeated  in  their 
grasp  at  the  supreme  powers  of  the  union,  and  they  have  en- 
deavoured to  do  as  the  baboon  is  said  to  have  done  with  the  fair 
lady  ;  that  is,  destroy  that  whieh  they  could  not  possess. 

Mr.  PICKERING,  to  whom  the  TIMES  newspaper  looked  up  as 
the  "  hangman  and  successor  of  Mr.  Madison,  now  talks  like 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

a  very  hearty  republican  ;  but  the  poor  gentleman  seems  to  know 
very  little  of  what  is  going  on  here.  He  says,  that  you  made 
peace  because  so  many  petitions  were  poured  in  against  conti- 
nuing the  war  ;  and  your  lordship  knows,  that  not  one  such  peti- 
tion was  poured  in.  He  says,  that  the  failure  at  New  Orleans 
will  put  you  oat  of  place.  Poor  gentleman !  how  little,  how  very 
little  does  he  know  about  you  I  He  says,  that  the  opposition  have 
clamoured  for  peace.  It  was  the  opposition  who  arged  on  the 
war,  and  only  found  fault  with  you  for  not  doing  the  Yankees 
more  mischief  than  you  did.  Yet  this,  this  is  one  of  them,  to 
whom  we  have  looked  as  capable  of  overthrowing  Mr.  Madison  ? 
This  is  one  of  the  men  who  was  to  "  reunite  the  colonies  to  the 
parent  state  \" 

It  is  very  true,  I  acknowledge,  that  a  dangerous  faction  has 
arisen  in  the  republic.  I  see  very  clearly,  that  wealth  has  intro- 
duced a  taste  for  what  are  called  honour*.  Vanity  is  making  a 
desperate  effort  to  decorate  men  with  titles.  The  law  forbids  it ; 
but  vanity  is  at  open  war  with  law.  The  germ  of  aristocracy, 
which  was  discovered  in  the  New-England  states,  and,  in  a  few 
instances,  in  some  of  the  others,  at  the  end  of  the  war  of  inde- 
pendence, has  grown  out  now  to  full  view.  There  are  squirts 
and  honourables  in  abundance.  There  are  the  "  honourable  the 
governor  •"  "  his  honour  the  judge  ;"  and  so  on.  These  men 
will  soon  begin  to  regret  that  they  have  no  one  to  give  them  per- 
manent titles ;  that  they  have  no  "fountain  of  honour."  That 
which  men  regret  the  want  of,  they  endeavour  to  obtain,  when- 
ever an  occasion  offers.  The  priests  of  New-England  appear 
to  be  working  hard  to  procure  something  in  the  way  of  an  estab- 
lishment. Hence  the  joy  of  both  these  at  the  restoration  of  the 
Bourbons,  the  old  French  Noblesse,  the  Pope,  and  the  Jesuits  ; 
and,  hence,  they  will,  I  venture  to  predict,  be  as  abusive  of  Na- 
poleon, Carnot,  Fouche,  Redcerer,  and  Merlin,  as  is  our  TIMES 
newspapers. 

In  the  mean  while,  however,  the  people  are  sound  republicans  ; 
and  it  will  take  some  years  to  overset  their  government,  though 
the  manners  and  tastes  of  many  may  be  corrupted.  The  follow- 
ing letters,  which  I  have  received  from  America,  will  show  you 
that  the  war,  and  especially  the  peace,  have  produced  a  great 
change  in  that  country.  They  will  also  show  you,  that,  long 
ago,  I  had  hit  upon  the  true  nail,  and  that  you  ought  to  have  paid 
attention  to  me  sooner  than  you  did.  The  newspapers  from 
America  breathe  a  spirit  of  resentment,  which  it  should  be  our 
object  to  allay,  if  possible ;  but,  really,  the  language  of  our  pros- 
tituted press  was  such,  that,  added  to  the  "  character  of  the 
war,"  it  is  almost  impossible  that  reconciliation  should  take  plac* 
during  an  age  to  come. 


Letters  of  William  Cobbeit,  Esq.  341 

Before  I  conclude,  I  beg  leave  to  call  your  lordship's  attention 
fo  the  statements  in  the  American  papers,  relative  to  our  treat- 
ment of  the  American  prisoners  of  war  ;  also  to  call  your  atten- 
tion to  certain  intercepted  letters  of  our  officers,  relative  to  plun- 
der ;  and  further,  to  call  your  attention  to  their  charges  relative 
to  the  parole,  given  by  GEN.  PACKEXHAM,  when  he  was  about 
to  assault,  and  to  take,  as  he  expected,  New-Orleans.  I  dare 
not  copy  these.  Newgate  is  not  so  pleasant  as  Botley.  But  still 
I  do  most  anxiously  wish  to  see  these  papers  published  here,  be- 
cause they  might  then  be  met  by  denial  and  disproof,  if  not  true. 
This  is  a  serious  matter,  my  lord.  If  we  dare  not  publish  here, 
they  dare  do  it  in  America  ;  and  there  it  is  that  the  effect  will  be 
produced  injurious  to  us.  I  dare  say,  that  long  before  this  will 
reach  the  press,  all  these  charges,  all  these  horrid  narratives, 
will  have  been  collected  in  America,  published  in  a  permanent 
shape,  and,  perhaps,  translated  into  French.  Thus  will  they 
be  read  by  all  the  civilized  world,  the  people  of  England  ex> 
cepted  ;  but,  thus  have  I  done  my  duty  in  pointing  these  things 
Out  to  your  lordship,  which  is  all  that  I  dare  do  in  this  case. 

I  am,  £c.  &c. 

WILLIAM  COBBETT. 

Bbtley,  ogth  May,  181J. 


TO  CORRESPONDENTS  IN  THE  U.  STATES  OF  AMERICA. 

I  have,  within  these  few  days,  had  tendered  to  me,  through  the 
post,  a  small  parcel  from  America,  with  "  newspapers"  written 
on  it.  This  parcel  had,  as  appears  by  the  post  mark,  been  sent 
from  Liverpool  to  London,  and  from  London  to  Botley.  The 
charge  on  it  was  nine  shillings  and  sixpence  sterling ;  that  is  to 
say,  however,  in  our  paper  money,  being  about,  at  this  time,  a  dot- 
lar  and  a  half.  I  did  not  take  the  parcel,  of  course,  much  as  I 
wished  to  see  its  contents.  From  this  account,  it  will  be  per- 
ceived, that  unless  parcels  of  newspapers,  coming  from  America, 
be  actually  conveyed  by  the  bearer  of  them,  either  to  me,  at  Bot- 
ley, (which  can  seldom  happen,)  or  to  London,  the  object  in  send- 
ing them  must  be  defeated  ;  for  a  file  of  daily  papers,  for  only 
one  month,  sent  me  by  post  from  any  out  port,  would  cost,  at 
least,  the  price  of  a  good  fat  hog.  I  remember  one  parcel  which 
came  to  me,  charged  with  nine  pounds  some  odd  shillings  of 
postage,  which  is  now  the  price  of  a  hog  of  seventeen  score 
weight.  As  I  am  very  desirous  to  receive,  frequently,  papers 
from  America ;  and  as  the  papers  in  that  country  are  not,  as  ours 
are,  loaded  with  a  tax  equal  to  more  than  one  half  of  the  retail 
price,  I  will  point  out  the  manner  in  which  they  may  be  sent  to 


342  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

me.  The  parcel  should  be  addressed  to  me>  by  name,  "  to  the 
care  of  the  publisher  of  Cobbelt's  Weekly  Political  Register^ 
London."  But  it  ought,  if  the  vessel  go  to  London,  lo  be  carried 
by  the  master  or  mate,  or  by  some  careful  person;  and  if  the  ves- 
sel arrive  at  some  out  port,  the  parcel,  with  the  same  direction  on 
it,  should  be  carried  to  some  office,  whence  a  London  coach  de- 
parts. There  it  should  be  delivered,  and  the  bearer  should  see 
it  boohed  as  we  call  it.  By  these  means  American  papers  will 
reach  me  with  very  little  trouble,  and  at  an  expense  of  which  I 
should  think  nothing.  All  single  letters  from  America  may  be 
addressed  to  me  at  Botley,  near  Southampton,  and  be  put,  at 
once,  into  any  post  office  in  this  country.  The  hirelings,  who 
conduct  nine  tenths  of  the  newspapers  in  London,  have  all  possi- 
ble  facilities  in  receiving  American  newspapers.  But  they  pub- 
lish from  them  that  only  which  suits  their  purpose.  Their  object 
is  to  mislead  the  people  here ;  or.  to  keep  them  in  the  dark  ;  and 
they  cull  out  every  passage  calculated  to  answer  the  end.  Be- 
sides, there  are  very  few  papers  (the  National  Intelligencer  ex- 
cepted)  which  are  sent  to  England,  except  the  papers  called  fe- 
deral. The  persons  who  send  these  papers,  if  not  English  by 
birth,  are  English  by  connexion.  Thus  we  see  only  one  side  of 
the  picture ;  and  hence  it  was,  that  malignant  and  beastly  as  is 
the  editor  of  the  Times  newspaper,  for  instance,  the  fellow  really 
might  be  deceived  himself  by  the  cuckoo  clamour  of  the  aris- 
tocratical  American  newspapers  j  but,  hence,  though  I  could  get 
a  sight  of  none  but  the  same  sort  of  papers,  /  was  not  deceived, 
because  I  had  had  that  experience  which  enabled  me  to  put  a 
proper  value  upon  what  I  saw  in  these  papers.  It  is  of  great  con- 
sequence to  the  cause  of  truth  and  freedom,  that  the  republican 
papers  should  come  to  us  from  America,  and  that  other  republican 
works,  should  also  reach  us  ;  for  it  is  from  this  island  that  opi- 
nions and  facts  go  forth  to  produce  impressions  on  the  minds  of  the 
world.  Bound  up  as  our  press  is,  we,  by  one  means  or  other, 
contrive  to  get  a  great  deal  into  circulation.  We  are  nearer  the 
grand  scenes  of  action  than  you  are  ;  and  if  you  wish  your  prin- 
ciples and  your  example  to  have  their  due  and  speedy  effect,  we 
must  be  the  principal  vehicle  of  them.  Some  one  at  Philadelphia 
has  recently  sent  me  a  parcel  of  American  papers,  received  at 
Philadelphia  from  other  places,  from  which  I  perceive,  that  my 
letters  to  Lord  Liverpool  have  been  republished  in  all  parts  of 
the  republic,  from  Boston  to  Savannah,  from  Philadelphia  to  Pitts- 
burgh. Flattering  as  this  is  to  my  self  love,  it  is  much  more  gratify- 
ing to  me  as  a  proof  of  the  powers  of  the  press,  and  as  the  founda- 
tion of  a  rational  hope,  that  the  day  is  not  distant  when  tyranny, 
wherever  it  may  exist,  will  fall  beneath  those  powers.  Letter  VI. 
to  the  earl  of  Liverpool,  I  wrote,  I  remember,  in  a  room  in  a  farm 
house,  one  morning  when  I  was  detained  by  rain.  I  might  have 


Letters  of  William  Cobbetl,  Esq.  343 

thought  it ;  but,  certainly,  I  had  not  then  the  most  distant  idea 
that  what  1  was  then  writing  would  so  quickly  come  back  to  me 
in  another  print,  after  having  been  read  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio 
and  those  of  the  Mississippi.  This  single  fact ;  the  sight  of  only 
one  sucii  print,  is  to  me  more  than  a  compensation  for  all  I  hat  I 
have  suffered  in  the  cause  of  truth  and  freedom. 

But  it  is  of  far  greater  importance  as  a  stimulant  to  future  ex- 
ertion, and  as  suggesting  additional  care  in  planning  and  executing. 
But  why  should  not  the  friends  of  freedom  co-operate  '?  We  see 
how  firmly  bound  together  its  enemies  are  ;  how  they,  for  the  fur- 
therance of  their  grand  object,  mutually  sacrifice  all  their  prejudi- 
ces, and  even  their  petty  conflicting  interests.  You  have  heard 
the  saints  of  Hartford  rejoice  at  the  restoration  of  the  pope.  The 
Holy  Father  has  embraced  the  Dey  of  Algiers,  who  calls  him  a 
Christian  dog.  Why  should  not  we  aid  each  other  ?  You  are 
better  off  than  we  are.'  You  hav  e  free  presses  in  every  seaport ; 
your  seaports  are  numerous  ;  your  masters  of  vessels  have  a  di- 
rect communication  with  you  ;  you  can  easily  come  at  all  that  we 
publish.  While  your  continent,  and  all  its  presses  and  literary 
productions,  are  shut  from  us  by  hundreds  of  obstacles  of  which 
you  have  no  idea,  our  enemies  have  their  regular  correspondents, 
their  communications  always  open ;  they  know  here  all  that  is  pass- 
ing in  your  country ;  while  we  are  wholly  in  the  dark ;  while  we 
are  deprived  of  the  use  of  all  those  powerful  weapons,  which 
your  unrestrained  press  would  put  into  our  hands.  I  hope  that 
these  considerations  will  be  sufficient  to  induce  some  one  of  you 
at  least,  to  forward  to  me,  in  the  manner  above  pointed  out,  such 
papers  and  other  publications,  as  are  likely  to  be  of  benefit  to  the 
cause  of  truth  and  freedom,  and  of  which  you  can  want  no  assu- 
rance of  my  willy  at  any  rate,  to  make  the  best  possible  use. 
America  now  begins  to  make  a  great  figure  in  the  world  ;  but  her 
example,  which,  if  made  universally  known,  would  be  of  more 
weight  than  her  military  or  naval  prowess,  is,  from  the  causes 
above  stated,  of  comparatively  little  service.  I  take  this  op- 
portunity of  expressing  my  best  wishes  to  Mr.  MATHEW  CA- 
HEY,  of  Philadelphia,  for  a  very  excellent  pamphlet,  which  he 
has  had  the  goodness  to  send  me,  entitled,  "  A  Calm  Address  to 
the  People  of  the  Eastern  States,  on  the  subject  of  the  Repre- 
sentation of  Slaves ;  the  Representation  in  the  Senate;  and  the 
hostility  to  commerce  ascribed  to  the  Southern  States." — I  should 
be  obliged  to  some  one,  to  send  me  any  work  or  works,  giving  an 
account  of  the  expenses  of  the  government,  and  stale  govern- 
ments, of  America;  also  other  shipping,  commerce,  debts,  taxes, 
&c.  £c.  And  if  Mr.  CAREV,  or  some  other  person  equally  ca- 
pable, would  §pend  a  few  hours  in  giving  me  an  account  of  the 


344  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

prices  of  provisions  and  labour,  I  should  deem   it  a  particular 
favour.     These  may  have  changed  since  I  left  America. 

WM.  COBBETT. 

P.  S.  Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  (22d  May)  received 
from  some  friend  in  Philadelphia,  a  small  file  of  Auroras,  con- 
taining the  «  EXPOSITION  of  the  CAUSES  and  CHA- 
RACTER of  the  War."  This  paper,  it  appears,  is  official, 
and  was  ready  for  official  promulgation,  just  at  the  time  when 
the  news  of  the  peace  arrived.  I  never  read  so  able  a  paper  ; 
never  one  calculated  to  produce  so  great  an  impression.  It  is  an 
invaluable  document  for  history ;  a  noble  monument  of  the  power 
of  the  human  mind.  If  our  government  have  received  this  pa- 
per, and  if  they  will  but  read  it  carefully,  they  will,  I  am  sure, 
clearly  see,  that  any  attempt  either  to  delude,  subdue,  or  check 
the  rise  of  America,  must  fail  of  success.  The  paper  would 
fill  about  four  whole  Registers,  perhaps.  But,  though  I  cannot 
insert  it,  it  will  be  of  great  use  to  me  ;  and  I  beg  the  sender  to 
accept  of  my  best  thanks. 
Botley,  near  Southampton,  May  20,  1815. 


To  Lord  Grenville—on  the  Constitutions  of  England,  Ameri- 
ca, and  France. 

My  Lord, 

Iw  the  published  report  of  your  speech  of  the  24th  of 
last  month,  on  the  subject  of  the  war  against  France,  we  read  the 
following  passage  :  "  As  to  new  constitutions,  he  (Lord  G.)  was 
firmly  of  opinion,  that  a  good  constitution  could  only  be  formed 
by  the  adoption  of  remedies,  from  time  to  time,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances which  required  them.  The  only  instance  of  excep- 
tion mentioned  was  that  of  America :  but  that  did  not  apply.  The 
founders  of  that  constitution  acted  with  great  wisdom.  It  was 
framed  so  as  to  produce  as  little  change  as  possible  in  the  existing 
farvs  and  manners  under  the  altered  form  of  government,  which, 
though  a  republic,  was  constructed  as  nearly  as  the  difference 
would  admit,  on  the  MONARCHICAL  form  of  OUR  OWN 
CONSTITUTION." 

This  passage,  my  lord,  owing,  I  dare  say,  to  the  want  of  ac- 
curacy in  the  reporter,  is  not  so  clear,  or  so  correct,  as  one  might 
have  wished  ;  but  its  meaning  evidently  is,  that  constitutions  of 
government  cannot  be  well  formed  all  at  once  ;  that  the  American 
constitution  of  government  bears  a  very  near  resemblance  to  our 
own ;  and  (taking  in  the  context)  that  the  constitution  of  govern- 
ment now  adopting,  or  settling,  in  France,  is  a  bad  constitution 
or  s 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

As  to  the  first  of  these  propositions :  that  a  constitution  cannot 
be  well  made  all  at  once,  it  is  of  little  consequence  as  to  the  ob- 
jer.f  which  I  have  in  view  ;  for  the  French  have  been  more  than 
25  years  forming  their  constitution ;  and,  however  mortifying  it 
ma  i  be  to  some  people,  the  laws  of  France,  even  while  the 
Bourbons  were  on  the  throne  la&t  year,  were,  for  the  greater 
part,  laws  passed  by  the  different  national  assemblies,  or,  as 
some  would  call  them,  the  jacobins.  It  is  a  very  great  mistake 
to  suppose  that  Napoleon,  either  in  his  constitution  or  his  code, 
began  anew.  He  did  little  more  than  arrange,  classify,  reduce 
to  order,  and  provide  for  enforcing  the  laws,  under  whatever 
name,  passed  by  the  different  assemblies  ;  and  this  was  the  code 
which  the  Bourbons  promised  to  adhere  to  and  support.  So 
that  the  constitution  of  France,  as  it  now  stands,  has  been  the 
work  of  26  years,  not  only  of  study,  but  of  experience.  It  is 
very  curious  to  hear  so  many  persons  abusing,  or  ridiculing,  the 
French  constitution,  and,  in  almost  the  same  breath,  saying,  that 
it  is  no  more  than  what  the  people  had  under  Louis  XVIII. 
This  looks  a  little  like  insincerity. 

It  is,  however,  the  alleged  resemblance  between  the  English 
and  American  governments  which  is  the  most  interesting  object 
of  examination  at  present ;  though  it  will,  before  I  conclude,  be 
necessary  to  see  a  little  what  resemblance  that  of  France  bears 
to  each  of  the  former  governments.  I  take  your  lordship  to  mean, 
of  course,  that  there  is  a  very  near  resemblance  between  the 
English  and  American  governments  as  they  really  are  in  opera- 
tion.  Not  as  they  are  to  be  found  in  books  written  about  con- 
stitutions. What  Montesquieu,  and  De  Lolme,  and  Blackstone, 
and  Paley,  and  a  long  list  of  grave  political  romance  writers  have 
published  upon  the  subject,  we  will  leave  wholly  out  of  the 
question  Your  lo>dship  was  talking,  and  so  will  I  talk,  of  things 
AS  THEY  ARE,  and  not  as  they  ought  to  be  ;  or  as  they  are, 
from  parrot  like  habit,  said  to  be.  And  here,  my  lord,  I  beg 
leave,  once  for  all,  to  state,  that  I  am  offering  no  opinions  of  my 
own  upon  this  subject.  Your  lordship,  according  to  the  pub- 
lished report,  says,  that  there  is  a  near  resemblance  between  the 
English  and  American  governments.  This  fact  I  deny ;  but 
that  is  all.  I  do  not  say  that  the  American  government  is  better 
than  ours  ;  nor  do  I  s;»y  that  it  is  morse.  I  only  say  that  it  does 
not  resemble  ours.  Which  is  the  beat  and  which  is  the  worst 
I  leave  to  the  decision  of  the  reader,  in  whatever  country  he 
may  live. 

But,  before  I  enter  on  ray  proofs  of  the  negative  of  this,  your 
lordship's  proposition,  permit  me  to  observe,  for  a  moment,  on 
the  desire  which  is  so  often  discovered  in  this  country,  to  induce 
other  nations  to  adopt  governments  like  our  own.  No  sooner 
do  we  hear  of  a  change  of  government  in  any  «9uatry.  than  if* 

44 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

begin  urging  the  people  of  such  country  to  adopt  a  government 
like  ours.  The  newspaper  people,  the  Walters  and  Perrys,  and 
the  like,  are  everlastingly  telling  ihe  French  thai  they  ought  to 
come  as  nearly  as  possible  lo  our  admirable  mixed  government. 
Those  cunning  loons,  the  Edinburgh  Reviewers,  chant  the  same 
litanies  in  every  succeeding  nuuiber.  They  despair  of  the 
French,  because  they  reject  our  excellent  model  of  government ; 
and  they  predict  that  the  American  system  cannot  endure  long, 
because  it  has  none  of  those  bodies  ot  nobles  or  large  proprie- 
tors, who  are  the  best  guardians  of  \he  people's  rights,  standing, 
as  the  Jatter  do,  between  the  people  and  the  prince  i  This  was 
their  talk,  indeed,  before  your  lordship  and  other  great  noblemen 
joined  the  ministers  in  support  of  the  war.  What  these  place- 
hunting  critics  will  say  now  is  a  great  deal  more  than  1  am 
able  to  guess.  Thus,  too,  it  was,  that  Burke  ranted  and  raved. 
The  French,  according  to  him,  ought  to  have  been  half  put  to 
death,  because  they  despised  the  "  admirable"  mixed  govern- 
ment of  England. 

How  he  ran  on;  what  bombastical  balderdash  he  published 
upon  this  subject,  your  lordship  knows  as  well  as  I ;  and  you, 
doubtless,  remember,  that  when  answered  by  Pa  we,  instead  of 
attempting  reply,  he  pointed  out  the  work  of  his  antagonist  to 
be  replied  to  by  the  attorney  general!  Now,  my  lord,  what  can 
be  the  real  cause  of  all  this  anxiety  to  get  other  nations  to  adopt 
our  own  sort  of  government  ?  It  is  not  the  usual  practice  of  the 
world  to  be  so  eager  to  induce  others  to  share  in  one's  happiness. 
If  a  man,  by  any  accident,  finds  a  parcel  of  money  in  a  field  or 
a  wood,  does  he  run  away  to  bring  his  neighbours,  or  even  his 
cousins  or  brothers,  to  enter  into  a  search  with  him  ?  Did  we 
ever  hear  of  a  tradesman,  who  had  a  set  of  good  customers,  en- 
deavour to  introduce  persons  of  the  same  trade  to  them  ?  Did 
ever  handsome  woman  try  to  make  any  other  woman  look  as 
handsome  as  herself,  even  though  that  other  were  her  sister,  nay, 
her  daughter  ?  If  an  individual  make  a  valuable  discovery,  so 
far  is  he  from  communicating  it  to  the  world,  that  he,  if  he  can, 
will  obtain  a  patent  for  it,  and  thereby  the  right  of  punishing  who- 
ever attempts  even  to  imitate  his  wares.  What,  then,  can  be  the 
cause  of  our  anxiety  to  make  other  nations  partakers  of  the  bless- 
ings of  our  government  ?  We  take  special  care  to  keep  from  them 
all  we  can  in  the  way  of  commerce.  We  have  a  law  for  encourage- 
ment of  our  own  navigation,  to  the  discouragement  of  that  of 
all  other  countries.  We  have  laws  to  prevent  the  carrying  to 
other  countries,  machines  to  facilitate  the  making  of  manufactures. 
We  have  laws  to  prohibit  the  carrying  of  the  produce  of  our 
colonies  to  other  countries,  until  it  has  been  brought  here.  We 
have  laws  to  prevent  the  exportation  of  live  sheep,  lest  other 
countries  should  get  our  breeds.  We  have  laws  to  punish  carti- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  34? 

and  manufacturers  who  attempt  to  leave  this  country,  and 
also  to  punish  the  masters  of  the  vessels  in  which  they  are  at- 
tempting; fo  escape ;  the  avowed  object  of  which  laws  is  to  pre- 
vent other  countries  from  arriving  at  our  state  of  perfection  in 
manufactures  and  arts.  How  is  it,  then,  my  lord,  that  we  are 
so  generous  as  to  our  poiiticitl  possessions  ?  Generous,  did  \ 
say  1  Nay,  obtrusive  and  impertinent.  We  are  not  only  ten- 
dering them  with  both  hands  at  once  ;  but  we  really  thrust  them 
upon  the  world  ;  and,  if  any  nation  be  so  resolutely  delicate  as 
to  refuse  to  receive  them,  let  that  nation  look  to  itself! 

"  Will  you  give  me  a  penny  ?"  said  Dil worth's  beggar  to  the 
priest.  "  No."  "  Will  you,  for  the  love  of  Christ,  give  me  a 
half-penny,  then,  to  keep  me  from  starving  ?"  "  No."  "  Will 
you,  then,  give  one  farthing  ?"  "  No."  "  Pray,  then,  since  I 
must  die  with  hunger,  give  me  your  blessing,  reverend  father." 
"  Kneel  down,  my  dear  son,  and  receive  it."  "  No,"  said  the 
beggar,  "  for  if  it  were  worth  but  one  single  farthing  you  would 
not  give  it  me;  so  you  may  e'en  keep  your  blessing  to  your- 
self." But  we  greatly  surpass  the  priest ;  for  while  we  withhold 
commerce,  navigation,  maiiuf'dufes,  arts,  artisans,  manufac- 
turers, breed  of  animals,  &c.  &c.  we  not  only  offer  our  bless- 
ing, but  we  aiuse  those  who  reject  it ;  and  there  are  those 
amongst  us  who  scruple  not  to  say,  that  the  nation  which  has 
the  insolence  to  refuse  to  share  in  our  political  happiness,  ought 
to  feel  the  force  of  our  arm?.  To  what,  then,  fairly  shall  f  as- 
cribe this  desire  to  induce  other  nations  to  adopt  our  sort  of  go- 
vernment? It  is  notorious,  that  men  seek  for  companions  in  mi- 
sery and  disgrace.  Never  was  there  a  bankrupt  who  did  not 
wish  to  make  his  appearance  in  a  copious  gazette.  The  coward 
looks  bold  when  he  has  fled  amongst  a  crowd.  The  country 
girls,  who  anticipate  the  connubial  tie,  always  observe,  and  very 
truly,  that  they  are  not  the  first,  and  shall  not  be  the  last.  It 
Is  said,  that  persons  infected  with  the  plague  feel  a  pleasure  in 
communicating  it  to  others.  To  ascribe  to  a  motive  like  any  of 
these  our  desire  to  extend  our  sort  of  government  to  other  na- 
tions would  be  shocking  indeed.  Yet,  lest  we  should  expose  our- 
selves to  the  imputation,  I  think  it  would  be  best  for  us  to  be  si- 
lent upon  the  subject ;  or,  at  least,  where  nations  decline  to  adopt 
our  system,  to  refrain  from  expressing  auy  resentment  against 
them  on  that  account.  John  Bull's  may  be  the  best  government 
in  the  whole  world  ;  it  may  be  very  laudable  in  him,  very  disin- 
terested, very  humane,  extraordinarily  generous,  to  urge  other 
nations  to  partake  in  his  blessings.  Fie  may  lament  the  blind- 
ness, or  the  obstinacy,  or  the  perverseness  of  the  natbns  who 
refuse  to  accept  of  his  offer.  But  why  should  he  be  angry  with 
them  ?  Why  should  he  be  in  a  rage  with  them?  Why  should  he 
quarrel  with  them  on  that  account  ? 


343 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 


We  will  now,  if  your  lordship  pleases,  come  to  the  resem- 
blance between  the  English  and  the  American  governments.  They 
are  both,  called  governments,  to  be  sure ;  and  so  are  the  kites 
and  pheasants  called  hirds  ;  but  assuredly,  though  I  pretend  not 
to  say  which  is  the  best,  or  which  is  the  worst,  they  resemblt 
-each  other  no  more  than  do  these  two  descriptions  of  the  fea- 
thered race.  To  substantiate  this  assertion,  I  shall  take  the  ma- 
terial points  in  the  two  cases,  and  state  them  in  opposite  co- 
lumns, that  the  contrast  may  at  once  strike  every  eye. 


ENGLISH  GOVERNMENT. 

A  king,  having  the  sovereign  power 
settled  on  his  family  by  hereditary  de- 
scent. His  heir  may  be  ait  old  man  or 
•woman,  a  boy  or  a  girL 

The  king's  civil  lists  amount  to  more 
than  four  millions  of  dollars  annually, 
or  1,000,000  of  pounds  sterling,  beside 
the  allowances  to  the  royal  children, 
queen,  kc,  &c.  amounting  to  nearly 
400,000  pounds  more. 

The  king,  -without  the  consent  of  any 
part  of  the  legislature,  makes  treaties 
and  even  treaties  uf  subsidy,  agreeing  to 
pay  money  to  foreign  powers,  lie  ap- 
points ambassadors,  public  ministers,  con- 
suls, judges,  and  all  other  officers  what- 
ever. 

The  king  can  do  HO  wrong-.  His  per- 
son is  sacred  and  inviolable. 


The  king  can  declare  war,  and  make 
psace,  without  any  body's  consent. 


The  king  grants  pensions  to  whom  he 
chooses  under  6,000  dollars  a  year.  He 
lias  more  than  100,000  ounds  a  year 
placed  at  his  disposal  for  secret  services, 
of  which  no  particular  account  is  ever 
rendered,  even  to  the  parliament. 

The  HOUSE  OP  PEERS  hold  their 
seats  by  hereditary  right ;  but  the  king 
may  make  new  peers  whenever  he 
chooses.  They  may  be  old  or  young, 
present  or  absent,  abroad  or  at  home. 

The  HOUSE  OF  IJOMVIONS  con- 
gists  of  county  members  and  city  borough 
members.  Be  the  county  great  or  small, 
it  sends  two  members — and,  as  to  the 
cities  and  boroughs,  London  and  West- 
minster, which  contain  about  80^,000 
persons,  sends  six  members,  while  Old 
Sarura,  Gatton,  and  many  other  places, 


AMERICAN  GOVERNMENT. 

The  chief  magistrate  is  a  PRESI- 
DENT, freely  elected  by  the  people 
every  four  years,  and  he  must,  be  35 
years  of  age. 

The  president  receives  a  compensa- 
tion for  his  services  which  cannot  be 
augmented  during  his  presidency,  and 
this  compensation  is  25,000  dollars,  or 
6,000  pounds  sterling. 

The  president,  with  the  consent  of  the 
senate,  who  are  e'ected  by  the  people, 
can  in *.ike  treaties,  tiao  thirds  of  the  sena- 
tors concurring  \\  ith  the  tame  consent 
he  rppoirits  ambassadors,  public  minis- 
ters, consuls,  judges,  &e. 

The  president  may  be  impeached, 
and  when  he  is  tried  in  senate  the  chief 
justice  is  to  preside. 

lie  can  only  be  dismissed  and  disyua- 
HJiedby  the  senate,  but,  beside  that,  he 
may  be  afterwards,  for  the  same  offence, 
indicted,  tried,  judged,  and  punished, 
according  to  law,  like  any  other  criminal. 

The  president  cannot  declare  -war. 
Nor  can  he  and  »he  senate  together  do 
it :  it  is  done  by  the  congress  ;  and  is  an 
act  passed  by  the  representatives  of  the 
people. 

The  president  can  give  no  pension, 
nor,  even  with  the  consent  of  the  senate, 
make  any  grant  whatever  of  the  public 
money — not  even  to  the  amount  of  a  dol- 
lar Every  thing  of  this  sort  is  done  by 
the  congress,  comprising  the  whole  of 
the  representative*  of  the  people. 

The  SENATE  consists  of  two  mem- 
bers horn  each  of  the  states  in  the  union. 
They  are  elected  by  the  state  legislatures, 
who  have  been  elected  by  the  people. 
They  serve  for  four  (six]  years.  The 
constitution  positively  forbids  the  grant- 
ing of  any  title  of  nobility-  Every  sena- 
tor is  to  be  not  under  thirty  years  of  age 
when  elected,  and  is  to  be  a  resident  in 
the  state  for  which  he  is  elected. 

The  HOUSE  OF  REP  RESENT  A- 
T1VES  consists  of  members  from  the 
several  states,  a  number  proportioned  to 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 


349 


ENGLISH  GOVERNMENT. 

containing  not  a  hundred  persons  each, 
send  each  two  merabeis.  The  members 
are  elected  for  seven  years. 

The  qualifications  for  county  mem- 
bers COO/,  a  year  in  land  ;  and  50W/.  a  year 
in  land  for  borough  members. 

The  qualifications  cf 'votes are  too  va- 
rious to  be  half  described.  In  counties 
the  freeholders  only  vote,  and  these  do 
not  fo  m  a  twentieth  part  of  the  payers 
of  taxes.  A  house  or  a  bit  of  freehold 
land  worth  40  shillings  a  year  gives  a 
•vote ;  while  houses  and  lands  to  the 
amount  of  thousands  a  year,  if  retaining 
any  of  the  feuilal  character,  give  no  vote 
at  ail  But  the  best  account  of  this  mat- 
ter is  to  be  found  in  tht  petition  present- 
ed to  the  house  of  commons,  and  receiv- 
ed by  that  house  on  the  6th  of  May,  l,  93. 
iu  that  petition  it  is  stated- 
Members. 

"That  50  peers  nominate        66 
influence        39 


"  That  71  peers  nominate 
influence 


w  That  45  Commoners  nominate 
influence 


105 


8? 
75 


163 


61 

22 


8S 


AMERICAN  GOVERNMENT. 

the  population  of  the  states,  according  to 
actual  enumeration.  They  are  elected 
for  tvo  y-'ars. 

The  qualification  for  members  is 
merely  that  of  having  attained  the  age 
of  *25  years  and  having  been  7  years  a 
citizen  of  the  United  tares. 

As  to  the  qualification  of  voters,  it  is 
simply  that  of  having  /><•  d  taxes,  and 
beiii£  in  a  state  to  be  culled  on  for  tuxe?, 
There  »re,  in  :h<  different  slaves,  slight 
dift'ei  ences  in  he  regulatio  s  as  to  voting ; 
but,  generally  and  substantially,  the  pay - 
^>lff  V  taxes,  smal  or gre  .t  ••»  amount, 
gives  a  right  ovoie  Of  course  as  the 
president,  senate,  and  representatives  are 
all  chosen  from  this  source,  thev  arc 
all  ;eally  (he  representat  ves  of  thepeo- 
ple.  It  i-  manifestly  a  government  car- 
ried on  by  the  people,  through  their  de- 
le-gates. 


' '  That  91  Commoners  nominate      82 
influence      57 

139 

«  ABSTRACT. 

Memberp. 

"  That  71  Peers  and  the  Treasury 
return  by  nomination  and  in- 
fluence 170 

•'*  That  91  Commoners  return  by 
nomination  and  influence  139 

"  Total  members,  returned  by  pri- 
vate patronage  for  England  and 
Wales,  exclusive  of  the  forty- 
five  for  Scotland.  309 

*'  That  in  this  manner  a  majority  of 
the  entire  house  is  chosen,  and  are  ena- 
bled, being  a  majority,  to  decide  allques* 
iions  in  the  name  of  the  •whole  people  of 
England  and  Scotland  *' 

Jl!l  the  ministers  have  septs  in  one  or 
the  other  of  the  houses,  and  a  grtat  num- 
Ler  of  their  secretaries  and  clerks  beside. 
In  1808,  when  an  account  of  this  matter 
vas  ordered  to  be  printed  by  the  house 


No  person  holding  an  office  under  the 
government  can  be  a  member  of  either 
house;  and  no  one  can  be  appointed  to 
any  place,  (during  the  time  for  which  ht 
was  elected,)  if  such  place  has  been 


350 


Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 


ENGLISH  GOVERNMENT. 

of  commons,  there  were  76  persons  in 
that  house  who  received,  amongst  them, 
178,99i  pounds  sterling  a  year  of  the  pub- 
lic money.  What  was  received  in  this 
•way  by  the  peers  and  their  families  I 
have  no  means  of  knowing  But,  not  only 
can  members  of  either  house  enjoy  the 
'profits  of  places  or  of  grants,  they  can 
receive  appointments  and  grants  \ohile 
they  are  members.  They  frequently  take 
part  in  voting  money  to  themselves.  But 
there  is  this  safeguard,  that,  in  some 
cases,  at  least,  when  a  member  receives 
a  lucrative  appointment,  lie  •vacates  his 
teat,  and  must,  if  he  continues  a  mem- 
her,  be  re-elected  !  It  is,  however,  very 
rarely  that  his  "  constituents"  refuse  to 
re-elect  him, !  Oh  !  la  belle  chose  ! 

The  king  can  dissolve  the  parliament 
•whenever  lie  pleases  ;  and  the  parliament 
has  been  dissolved,  at  every  change  of 
ministry,  for  some  time  pust.  He  can, 
also,  prorogue  the  house  at  his  pleasure. 


If  the  king  disapproves  of  a  bill,  he 
rejects  it  at  once,  without  assigning  any 
reasons. 


The  king  alone  coins  money,  raises 
troops,  and  fits  out  navies. 

The  privilege  of  habeas  corpus  was 
suspended  in  England  for  several  years, 
during  Pitt's  administration,  when  there 
•was  neither  rebellion  nor  invasion. 


It  is  treason  to  compass  the  death  of 
the  king  ;  and  this  may  be  by  -writing,, 
or  talking,  and  indirectly  as  well  as  di- 
rectly. The  crime  of  treason,  here,  is 
against  the  king  ;  in  America,  it  is 
against  the  United  States;  that  is  to 
say,  against  the  people.  By  an  act  of  this 
king's  reign  (to  last  till  his  death  and  a 
year  longer)  it  is  declared  to  be  high 
treason  to  endeavour  to  overa-we  the 
king,  or  either  house  of  parliament,  into 
a  change  of  measures  or  counc-ls  ;  and, 
at  one  time,  it  was  high  treason  to  send 
to  any  person  in  the  dominions  of  France 
a  bag  of  flour,  a  flitch  of  bacon,  or  a 
kushel  of  potatoes. 

In  England,  the  church  establishment 
receives,  in  rents  and  tythes,  about  an 
eighth  part  of  the  amount  of  the  rental 
of  the  whole  kingdom.  All  the  bishops, 
deans,  prebends,  and  the  greater  part  of 
the  beneficed  priests,  are  appointed  by 
the  crown.  There  are  test  laws,  which 


AMERICAN  GOVERNMENT. 

cror.ted  during  the  time  he  was  in  the 
legislature. 


The  president  has  no  power  to  dissolve 
the  congress  or  either  of  (he  houses,  nor 
to  adjourn  their  meetings,  unless  they 
disagree  upon  the  subject.  Nor  can  he 
call  them  together  at  any  but  at  periods 
fixe  1  by  law,  except  on  extraordinary 
occasions. 

If  the  president  does  not  approve  of  a 
bill  passed  by  the  two  houses,  he  sends  it 
back,  with  his  objections  but  if  two 
thirds  of  both  bouses  persevere,  the  bill 
becomes  a  law. 

'Ihe  congress  alone  has  power  to  coin 
money,  to  raise  troops,  to  build  and  equip 
ships. 

The  privilege  or  writ  of  habeas  corpus 
cannot  be  suspended,  unless  when,  in 
cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public 
safety  may  require  it  America  ha? 
lately  been  invaded  in  several  parts,«has 
had  her  towns  burnt  and  plundered,  her 
coast  ravaged  and  devastated  ;  and  j'et 
the  habeas  corpus  was  not  suspended. 

Treason  consists  only  in  lei>y\n%  war 
against  the  UNITED  STATES,  or  in 
adhering  to  their  enemies,  giving  them 
aid  and  comfort. 


"  No  law  shall  be  made  by  congress 
respecting  an  ESTABLISHED  n ELI- 
OT ON,  or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise 
thereof."  No  religious  test  is  required 
of  any  man  to  qualify  him  for  any  office. 
Any  man  may  publish  what  he  pleases 
about  religion.  No  tythes  in  America, 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 


ENGLISH  GOVERNMENT. 


AMERICAN  GOVERNMENT- 


shut  out  from  political  and  civil  privileges    Marriages  are  settled  under  the  eye  of 
great  numbers  of  the  people  ;  and  men    the  civil  magistrate,  if  the  parties  choose, 
are  frequently  severely  punished, 'put in 
felons'  jails,  and  fined  and  pilloried  into 
the  bargain,  for  writing  printing,  or  pub- 
lishing,   their    opinions    about    religion. 
The  bishops  have  seats  in  the  house  of 
peers.     Marriages  are   not  legal  unless 
sanctioned  by  the  priests  of  the  establish- 
ed church. 

As  to  the  liberty  of  SPEECH  and  of  No  law  can  he  passed  abridging  the 
the  Pi.ESS,  many  acts  have  been  pass-  FREEDOM  OF  SPEECH,  or  of  the 
ed  to  abridge  both  ;  but  particularly  one  PRESS, 
of  the  l'2th  of  July,  1799,  which  suppress- 
ed all  political  societies,  and  all  societies 
for  debating'  and  lecturing,  except  un- 
der I. senses  from  the  king's  justices  of 
the  peace,  or  police  magistrates.  Even 
lodges  of  the  poor  childish  freemasons 
were  compelled  to  have  a  license  to  meet, 
and  to  be  registered:  and,  even  after 
this,  the  king's  justices  might  order  any 
lodge  to  be  discon  inucd  ;  that  is  to  say, 
broken  up.  The  king's  justices,  in  case 
of  disobedience  of  this  law,  might  punish 
at  once,  by  a  fine  of  -20  pounds,  or  three 
months'  imprisonment;  or,  if  the  of- 
fenders were  convicted  on  indictment, 
they  were  to  be  transported  for  seven 
years.  Public-house  keepers  were  to 
lose  their  licenses  if  they  permitted  such 
meetings  at'  their  houses.  Every  place 
for  lecturing,  debating,  or  reading  news- 
papers, where  money  shall  be  paid,  is 
to  be  deemed  a  disorderly  house,  unless 
previously  licensed.  The  king's  justices 
were  authorized  to  take  the  license  from 
any  publican  ;  that  is  to  say,  to  -put  an 
end  to  his  trade,  upon  receiving  informa- 
tion that  seditions  or  immoral  publica- 
tions were  rend  in  his  house.  As  ,o»the 
PRESS,  every  printer  is,  by  the  same 
act,  compelled  to  give  notice  to  the  clerk 
of  the  king's  justices,  that  he  keeps  a 
press  or  presses  for  printing,  and  he  is 
to  receive  a  certificate  of  having  given, 
such  notice.  The  justices'  clerk  is  to 
transmit  a  copy  of  the  notice  to  the  king's 
secretary  of  state,  in  whose  office  the 
names  and  places  of  abode  of  all  the 
printers,  and  'he  number  of  the  presses, 
&c.  &c  are  all  nicely  registered.  Letter 
Founders  are  to  do  the  same  ;  and, 
moreover,  they  are  to  keep  an  account 
of  the  types  and  printing  presses  that 
they  sell,  and  are  to  produce  them, 
•whenever  required,  to  any  justice  of  the 
peace.  Then,  again,  the  name  and  place 
of  abode  of  the  printer  must  be  printed 
on  every  paper  or  book ;  and  any  one 
issuing  forth,  dispersing  after  published, 
any  paper  or  hook,  without  the  name 
and  place  of  abode  of  the  printer,  to  be 
punished  by  the  forfeiture  of  20  pounds. 


352 


Letters  of  William  Cobhdt,  Esq. 


ENGLISH  GOVERNMENT. 

The  printer  is  compelled  to  keep  a  copy 
of  every  thing  he  prints;  he  is  to  write 
on  it  the  name  and  abode  of  the  person 
who  employed  him  to  print  it,  under  the 
penalty  of  20  pounds  l-'ersons  selling  or 
handing  about  papers  may  be  seized  and 
earned  before  a  justice,  to  have  ii  deter- 
mined whether  they  h;ive  been  offending 
the  law  Any  justice  may  empower 
peace  officers  to  search  for  presses  and 
types  Hte  suspects  to  be  illegally  used, 
and  to  seize  them  an<i  the  printed  papers 
found  As  to  newspapers,  the  proprie- 
tors, printers,  and  publishers,  are  all 
compelled  to  go  10  the  stamp  office  and 
make  an  affidavit  of  iheir  being  such,  and 
also  of  their  place  of  abode.  They  are 
compelled  to  deposite  one  copy  of  each 
paper  at  the  office  ;  and  this  copy,  with 
their  own  affidavits,  is  all  that  is  called 
for  in  proof  of  their  being  all  guilty  of 
any  iibe!  found  in  the  paper. 

An  act  was  passed  on  the  18th  of  De- 
cember, 179',  making  it  dea, h  tor  any 
part  of  the  people,  above  50  in  number, 
to  meet  for  the  purpose  of  petitioning, 
unless  notice  and  authority  for  hold.ng 
such  meeting  be  given  to,  and  obtained 
from  the  king's  justices  The  penalty  of 
DEATH,  without  benefit  of  clergy,  oc- 
curs no  less  than  nine  times  in  this  act. 
This  act,  not  to  spin  out  its  details,  puts 
all  political  meetings  wholly  under  the 
absolute  authority  of  the  justices,  sheriffs, 
and  other  officers ;  who  can,  in  some  ca- 
ses, prevent  their  taking  place  at  all ;  and 
in  all  cases,  put  an  end  to  them  at  their 
sole  discretion.  First,  a  written  notice, 
signed  by  seven  householders  of  the  place, 
is  to  be  given  of  a  meeting;  this  notice 
is  to  be  conveyed  to  the  clerk  of  the  jus- 
tices. The  justices,  thus  apprized  of  the 
meeting,  arrive  and  if  they  hear  any 
body  propounding  or  maintaining  pro- 
positions for  altering  any  thing  by  law 
establi  tied,  except  by  the  authority  of 
king,  lords,  and  commons,  they  may  or- 
der the  offending  parties  into  custody. 
There  needs  no  more.  This  is  quite 
clear.  It  may  be  excellent;  but  it  is 
impossible  to  find  any  thing  like  it  in 
America. 

According  to  the  amount,  ordered  to 
be  printed  by  the   house  of  commons  in 
180R,   the  following  are  a  few  of  our 
sinecures : 
Auditor  of  the  Exchequer, 

L'vrd  Grenville  £4,000 

Teller,  Earl  Cumden  23,417 

Karl  Bathurst  2,700 

Clerk  of  the  Polls,  Hon. 

H.  aldington  3,000 

Chamberlains,     Hon.    F. 

North  I,7?rs 


AMERICAN  GOVERNMENT, 


No  law  can  be  passed  to  abridge  the 
right  of  the  people  peaceably  to  assemble* 
aud  to  petition  for  a  redress  of  grievances. 


There  are  no  sinecures  iu  America. 


Letters  of  William  Cobbetl,  Esq. 


353 


ENGLISH  GOVERNMENT. 

"•       Montague  Burgoyne*  £l,660 
Master    and     Worker    of 

Mint,  Earl  Bathurst  3,000 

Register  of  Admiralty  and 

Prize  Courts,  Lord  Ar- 

den  38,556 

It  is  stated  that  there  are 
great  'deductions  out  of 
this;  but  it  is  not  said  tuho 
receives  them.  £77,788 

I  his  is  not  being  very  select.  I  could 
have  easily  selected  much  fewer  places 
or  pensions,  to  have  made  the  same 
amount. 

Here  I  will  not  take  om  fifty  thouiand- 
ers,  like  the  Duke  of  York's,  but  will 
take  a  few  of  the  small  fry,  and  espe- 
cially the  anti-jacobin  authors,  or  their 
descendants  • 

Joseph  Planta  £l20 

Mrs.  Burke  1,200 

Sir  Francis  d'lvernois  200 

ltd.  Cumberland's  children    200 
Mrs.  Mallet  du  Pan  200 

Rev.  Herbert  Marsh  514 

Wm.  Gifford  329 

The  English  government  collects  from 
the  people  71  16».  each,  a  year,  including 
the  whole  population,  men,  women,  chil- 
dren, paupers,  soldiers,  sailors,  convicts, 
and  prisoners  of  all  sorts. 

The  king  has  state  coaches,  horse- 
guards,  foot  guards,  several  palaces,  and 
parks  at  the  public  expense. 

People  kneel,  and  kiss  the  king's  hand. 


AMERICAN  GOVERNMENT. 


The  whole  of  the  civil  government  of 
the  United  States,  President,  Congress, 
Ambassadors,  Ministers,  do  not  cost 
70,OOOJ.  a  year. 


There  are  no  pensions,  except  granted 
by  congress  for  actual  and  well-known 
services. 


The  American  government  collects 
from  the  people  12«.  6 d  each,  a  year,  in 
taxes,  taking  in  the  whole  of  the  popu- 
lation. 

The  president  has  none  of  these. 


Nobody  ever  kneels  to  the  president, 
or  kisses  his  hand . 


*  This  Mr.  Burgoyne  has  just  written 
a  circular  letter  to  his  neighbours  in  Es- 
sex, calling  upon  them  to  spend  their  last 
shilling,  if  necessary,  in  a  war  against  the 
Emperor  of  France,  whom  he  calls  every 
thing  but  an  honest  man.  N .  B.  Mr.  Bur- 
goyne  has  had  this  place  for  more  than 
thirty  years  !  Will  he  now  give  it  up, 
seeing  that  money  is  so  much  wanted  for 
this  just  and  necessary  war  ? 

I  could,  my  lord,  proceed  much  further  were  it  necessary;  bufc 
from  what  we  have  seen,  I  think  it  is  plain,  that  there  is  no  like- 
ness whatever  in  the  two  governments.  As  to  that  of  France, 
as  it  is  now  new  modelled,  it  appears  to  me  to  resemble  the  Ameri- 
can rather  than  ours.  People  in  France  vote  for  members  of  the 
legislature,  upon  the  principle  of  representation  and  taxation  going 
hand  in  hand.  There  are  no  feudal  titles  or  rights  in  France. 
The  peers  are,  in  fact,  no  more  than  eminent  citizens,  having  no 
great  estates  attached  to  their  titles  and  seats.  There  is,  and  there 
is  to  be,  no  established  religion.  The  two  Chambers  in  France, 
like  the  Congress  in  America,  are  forbidden  to  pass  any  law  re- 
specting a  predominant  church.  Religious  opinions  are  to  be 

4!) 


354  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

free.  There  are  to  be  no  books  which  may  not  be  freely  com- 
mented on  and  examined  into.  There  is  to  be  nothing  so  sacred 
that  reason  may  not  approach  it.  There  are  to  be  no  tythes  in 
France,  consequently  no  benefices  to  bestow.  This  is  a  govern- 
ment certainly  very  much  like  that  of  America.  Mr.  Grattan 
observed  that  the  French  people  had  exchanged  the  paradise 
of  the  Bourbons  for  the  "  eternal  damnation  of  a  military  des- 
potism." May  be  so;  but  they  seem  resolved  not  to  have 
feudal  tides  and  courts  ;  monasteries  and  tythes  ;  gabelles,  corvees, 
and  game  laws.  May  be  so  ;  but  it  has  not  been  proved. 

In  conclusion,  my  lord,  give  me  leave  to  suggest,  that  it  would 
be  as  wise  in  us  not  to  cry  up  our  sort  of  government  so  much. 
If  it  be  better  than  that  of  France,  why  want  them  to  have  one 
like  it  ?  Most  of  my  neighbours  are  well  enough  content  if  they 
are  but  able  to  get  good  crops  themselves,  without  thinking  much 
about  those  of  other  people.  We  are  always  calling  the  French 
our  enemy,  and  representing  their  power  as  so  dangerous  to 
Europe  ;  and  why  should  we  then  fret  ourselves  because  they 
will  not  be  happier  than  they  are?  It  would  certainly  be  wise 
to  let  them  alone  ;  for,  by  evincing  such  an  everlasting  anxiety 
about  their  form  of  government,  I  am  afraid  that  we  shall  give 
rise  to  a  suspicion,  that  it  is  their  form  of  government,  and  not 
the  ambition  of  their  chief,  that  we  dread,  and  against  which 
we  are  about  to  make  war.  I  am,  £c.  £c. 

WM.  COBBETT. 


To  Mr.  Niles,  Proprietor  of  the  Weekly  Register,  published  at 
Baltimore,  in  the  United  States  of  America. 

Sir, 

AFTER  thanking  you  for  the  numbers  of  your  publication, 
which  you  have  been  so  good  as  to  send  me,  I  proceed  to  the 
subject  of  this  letter,  the  object  of  which  is  to  give  to  the  people 
of  the  last  remaining  republic  some  information,  which  they 
might  not  be  able  otherwise  to  obtain,  relative  to  the  effects  pro- 
duced, and  likely  to  be  produced,  by  the  recent  events  in  France  ; 
information  which  it  is  very  necessary  for  you  to  possess  ;  for  the 
time  may  not  be  distant,  not  near  so  distant  as  you  imagine,  when 
you  yourselves  will  feel  some  of  the  consequences  of  the  events 
to  which  I  allude. 

This  second  fall  of  Napoleon  has  caused  wonderful  joy  in 
England,  amongst  the  higher  orders,  and  especially  amongst  the 
boroughmongers,  who  have  been  now,  a  second  time,  delivered  ; 
or,  at  least,  have  obtained  a  respite  a  second  time.  The  re- 
action, which  will  certainly  cqtoe,  may  operate  against  theou 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  355 

But,  in  the  meanwhile,  they  get  rid  of  their  alarms,  which  were,  a 
month  ago,  greater  than  at  any  former  period. 

The  boasting  here  is  beyond  all  conception.  Though  the  fact 
is  notorious,  that  the  Prussians  and  the  Belgians  were  fighting  on 
our  side  against  the  French  ;  though  it  is  notorious  that  we  held  a 
vast  superiority  of  numbers  and  of  means  of  all  sorts,  we  talk 
here  as  if  the  victory  were  wholly  our  own.  Two  hundred  thou- 
sand pounds,  at  the  first  slap,  has  been  voted  to  the  "  great 
lord,"  as  the  Spaniards  call  him.  What  did  you  vote  to  Mr. 
JACKSON,  who  won  a  more  decided  and  more  glorious  victory  at 
New-Orleans  ? — Burke,  with  his  pension  in  his  pocket,  calls 
nobility  and  honours  the  CHEAP  defence  of  nations ;  and  so 
they  may  in  countries  whose  people  do  not  receive  money  along 
with  the  honours.  But  this  grant  of  money,  enormous  as  it  is, 
appears  to  be  only  a  beginning.  A  proposition  has  been  made  to 
make  a  grant  to  the  Duke  of  For/c,  as  commander  in  chief  of 
the  army,  he  having,  in  that  capacity,  provided  the  army  for  the 
duke  of  Wellington  to  fight  with.  He  has  been  paid  a  pretty 
good  salary  for  this,  to  be  sure  ;  but  this,  it  seems,  is  not  enough. 
It  is,  therefore,  now  proposed,  or  at  least  has  been  proposed  by  a 
member  of  parliament,  to  give  him  money  on  account  of  the  suc- 
cess of  the  army. 

You  will  ask,  what  takes  place  in  this  respect,  when  we  get 
beaten? — as  in  the  case  of  Plattsburg,  Lake  Champlain,  Lake 
Erie,  New-Orleans,  &c.  Why,  we  hold  our  tongues.  We  do 
not  talk  about  the  matter,  except  to  praise  the  valour  of  our  troops 
for  a  day  or  two.  Indeed,  the  country  people  in  England,  and  a 
great  many  of  the  towns  people,  never  know  any  thing  of  such 
defeats.  The  London  newspapers,  which  alone  have  any  wide 
circulation,  are  employed  in  the  spreading  of  falsehood  and  the 
suppressing  of  truth.  The  country  newspapers,  with  very  few 
exceptions,  are  the  mere  gutters,  through  which  pass  a  part  only 
of  the  filth  of  the  more  copious  London  sewers  ;  but  it  is,  if  pos- 
sible, the  worst  part.  When  the  news  of  your  grand  achieve- 
ment at  New-Orleans  arrived,  it  was  at  once  asserted,  that  WE 
had  gained  a  great  victory.  Details  even  were  published.  The 
same  was  repeated,  with  trifling  variations,  for  a  week.  Thus  the 
country  papers  had  time  to  play  their  part.  The  victory  was 
believed  in  from  one  end  of  the  kingdom  to  the  other.  At  the 
end  of  a  fortnight,  out  slipped  the  account  of  the  defeat  in  the 
middle  of  a  Gasette,  stuffed  up  with  advertisements  and  pro- 
motions. \Ve  could  not  accuse  the  government  of  not  publishing 
it ;  but,  in  fact,  the  mass  of  the  people  never  either  saw  it,  or 
heard  of  it;  and,  to  this  hour,  there  is  not  a  man  in  the  village, 
in  which  I  now  sit  writing,  who  does  not  believe  that  we 
eave  you  a  hearty  beating  at  NejfrOrleans,  In  short,  the  mass 


356  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

of  the  people  in  this  country  know  less  of  the  affairs  of  the  nation 
than  any  people  that  I  ever  heard  of. 

At  present,  however,  it  would  be  unreasonable  to  expect  us  te 
show  any  thing  like  moderation.  Not  only  do  our  newspapers 
approve  of  the  proclamation  of  Louis  XVIII.  in  which  he  talks 
of  punishing  traitors ;  but  they  are  preparing  their  readers  to 
expect  a  direct  interference,  on  our  part,  in  the  regulating  his 
government,  and  even  in  the  choosing  of  his  ministers.  We  are 
told,  in  so  many  words,  that  we  have  a  right  to  demand  the  death 
of  some  of  the  "  rebels ;"  that  we  have  a  right  to  compel  the  king 
to  adopt  a  strong  government.  In  the  meanwhile,  others  are  pro- 
posing to  strip  the  city  of  Paris  of  statues  and  other  ornaments,  to 
bring  them  to  England  to  adorn  a  monument  to  be  erected  in 
memorv  of  the  late  victory.  There  seems  to  be  no  bounds  to 
the  degradation  to  which  some  of  our  writers  wish  to  reduce  the 
French  people  and  name.  Some  demand  real,  solid  securities 
for  the  future.  This,  perhaps,  means  Dunkirk,  before  which  our 
Duke  of  York  fought  a  battle  once.  Calais,  perhaps,  too.  The 
demolition  of  the  basin  of  Cherbourg.  There  is  no  knowing 
where  we  are  to  stop.  You  remember  the  punishment  that  our 
pious  king  RICHARD  I.  inflicted  on  his  rebel  subjects  in  the 
garrisons  which  opposed  him  after  his  return  from  his  crusade  to 
the  Holy  Land !  That,  as  being  the  most  ejfeclual  mode  of  pre- 
venting the  future  propagation  of  rebels,  may,  perhaps,  appear 
to  the  boroughmonger  writers  as  the  mode  to  be  adopted  towards 
the  French  people  upon  this  occasion. 

That  there  will  be  bloody  vengeance  taken  now,  there  is  no 
doubt  The  recollection  of  the  battles  of  Genappe,  Dunkirk, 
Austeilitz,  Marengo,  Hulen,  Wagram,  Eylau,  Friedland,  Moskwa, 
Smolensko,  the  Helder,  the  capture  of  Rome,  Naples,  Turin, 
Amsterdam,  Madrid,  Hanover,  Moscow,  Berlin  twice,  Vienna 
twice ;  in  short,  the  defeats,  the  humiliations,  the  shames,  and  the 
bodily  fears  of  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and,  above  all,  the  expo- 
sures of  the  priests,  are  now  assembling  all  their  force  to  obtain 
vengeance.  The  convention  of  the  Helder,  and  the  convention 
which  gave  Maria  Louisa  to  the  arms  of  Napoleon,  are  now  to  be 
avenged.  The  pope  has  to  get  vengeance  for  his  humiliation  ;  and 
so  they  have  all.  But  what  are  they  to  do  ?  They  cannot  kill 
the  people  of  France.  All  Europe,  with  more  than  a  million  of 
men  in  arms,  and  with  fifty  millions  of  English  money,  will  replace 
Louis  on  the  throne  of  France.  But  they  cannot  remain  in 
France;  and  if  they  do  not  remain  in  France,  they  cannot  keep 
him  upon  that  throne.  He  is  now,  as  last  year,  moving  along  to- 
wards the  capital  under  the  protection  of  more  than  half  a  million 
of  soldiers,  who  have  made  war,  and  are  making  war  upon  French- 
men, fighting  on  their  own  soil,  and  in  its  defence.  As  long  as 
Frenchmen  are  kept  down  by  the  bayouet,  he  will,  of  course,  re- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

main  there ;  but,  how  long  will  that  be  ?  He  was  on  the  throne 
last  year  :  but  he  was  not  there  six  months  after  the  hostile  armies 
had  quitted  France.  To  hear  him  threaten  the  French,  as  he  did 
some  time  ago,  with  chastisement  by  foreign  armies,  1,200,000 
in  number  of  men,  was  natural  enough ;  but  to  hear  him  now 
talking  of  their  sorrow  at  his  departure,  and  of  their  joy  at  his  re- 
turn, is  calculated  to  fill  one  with  admiration  at  the  impudence  of 
his  advisers.  He  knew  well,  that  it  was  under  the  bayonets  of 
foreigners  only  that  he  dared  advance ;  that  he,  or  any  of  hia 
family,  dared  show  their  nose  in  France  ;  and  yet,  even  while  he 
is  following  close  upon  the  heels  of  those  foreigners,  he  boasts  of 
being  the  object  of  the  love  and  admiration  of  the  French  peo- 
ple !  No,  no,  Louis ;  you  are  restored,  as  you  were  last  year,  by 
foreign  bayonets  ;  and  the  question  is  yet  to  be  decided,  whether 
those  bayonets  will  be  able  to  keep  you  on  tlie  throne.  You  have 
yet  a  stormy  time  to  pass.  The  battle  between  light  and  liberty 
on  one  side,  and  darkness  and  despotism  on  the  other  ;  that  battle 
which  began  in  1789  is  still  going  on.  It  may  rage  less  fiercely 
for  a  time !  but  it  will  not  be  put  an  end  to  unless  by  the  triumph 
of  the  former. 

As  to  the  conduct  of  Napoleon,  upon  the  last  occasion,  it  was 
useless  for  him  any  longer  to  attempt  to  support  his  authority  as 
a  sovereign ;  and,  indeed,  it  would  have  been  well  if  he  had  re- 
signed immediately  after  his  retarn  from  Elba.  This  was  fully 
expected  by  many  men  in  England ;  and  it  appears  from  his  last 
act  that  we  have  heard  of,  namely,  his  abdication  in  favour  of 
his  son,  that  he  was  only  restrained  by  his  foolish  attachment  to 
the  Austrian  princess  and  her  child  !  After  all,  his  glorious  deeds ; 
after  all  his  famous  battles ;  after  all  his  wise  acts  of  legislation ; 
all  his  magnanimous  proceedings  ;  all  that  he  had  done  in  the  cause 
of  mankind ;  after  all  this,  how  painful  is  it  to  see  him  vainly  han- 
kering after  the  preserving  of  a  crown  to  his  family  !  and,  which 
adds  to  the  mortification,  to  a  son  which  he  had  by  the  daughter 
of  a  king;  and,  of  an  Austrian,  too!  It  is  melancholy  to  think 
of.  If  it  had  been  the  son  of  some  tradesman's  daughter !  But 
to  risk  the  freedom  and  happiness  of  that  gallant  nation,  who  has 
twice  carried  him  victorious  to  Berlin,  and  twice  to  Vienna;  to 
risk  the  freedom  and  happiness  of  that  brave  people  for  the  sake 
of  the  grandson  of  a  king,  and  that  king  an  AUSTRIAN  KING, 
too,  is  horrible  to  think  of.  If,  upon  his  return  from  Elba,  he  had 
frankly  acknowledged  his  great  error,  namely,  that  of  connecting 
himself  with  the  old  royal  family,  and  had  declared  again  for  a  re- 
public in  name  as  well  as  in  substance ;  if  he  had  done  this,  and 
had  called  for  the  convention)  no  power  in  Europe  would  have 
moved  against  France.  But  when  men  saw  that  the  emperor 
was  still  to  remain ;  that  they  were  again  to  have  an  empress  to 
maintain  with  all  her  royal  progeny  ;  and  that  they  were  likely  to 


358  Letters  of  William  Cobbetl,  Esq. 

descendjn'fee  from  father  to  son  ;  when  they  saw  this,  they  could 
not  possibly  feel  any  portion  of  the  old  republican  fire  warm  their 
hearts.  Say  what  they  would,  still  it  was  a  battle  between  an 
emperor  and  a  ki  :g. 

Then  the  new  nobility.  It  was  impossible  to  animate  a  people 
in  their  cause.  They  had  suffered  under  the  nobility  before.  It 
was  difficult  to  see  why  a  rafan  should  risk  life  or  properly  for  the 
sake  of  preserving  to  these  gentry  their  titles.  To  see  these  old 
republicans  forming  a  house  of  peers,  and  calling  themselves 
dukes  and  counts  !  This  was,  indeed,  no  more  than  a  consequence 
of  the  imperial  part  of  the  plan  ;  but  it  could  not  fail  to  fill  with 
apprehension  all  those  who  wished  well  to  the  republican  cause, 
and  who  recollected  that  it  was  under  the  banners  of  "  liberty 
and  equality"  that  Brunswick  was  chased  out  of  France,  and  that 
the  coalition  of  kings  was  covered  with  disgrace,  in  the  memora- 
ble years  1793,  4,  and  5.  The  truth  is,  that  to  defend  France 
against  such  a  coalition,  all  the  energy  of  a  republic  was  necessa- 
ry in  those  years ;  and  it  was  become  now  as  necessary  as  ever. 
But  such  energy  could  not  exist  under  an  imperial  and  aristo- 
cratical  government.  The  French  people  felt  no  more  what  they 
fell  in  the  first  years  of  the  revolution.  The  proprietors  were 
anxious  about  their  land  ;  but  that  alone  was  not  sufficient. 

Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  these  errors  of  Napoleon,  he  is  enti- 
tled to  the  gratitude  of  mankind.  He  pulled  down  the  pope,  the 
monks  in  Spain  and  Italy,  the  inquisition  in  those  countries.  He 
carried  light  and  liberal  principles  to  dark  and  enslaved  nations. 
He  formed  a  code  of  wise  and  just  laws;  or,  at  least,  he  confirm- 
ed those  which  had  been  passed  by  the  republicans.  He  was  a 
soldier,  too,  fond  of  military  glory,  but,  without  arms  he  could  not 
bave  effected  what  he  did  effect  in  favour  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty  in  distant  countries.  Much  of  what  he  did  will  now  be 
undone ;  but  it  will  be  impossible  for  all  the  kings  and  priests  in 
the  world  to  make  men  as  ignorant  and  submissive  as  they  were 
before  he  marched  over  the  Alps.  The  enemies  of  freedom,  the 
black-hearted  friends  of  despotism,  flatter  themselves  that  now 
they  shall  see  mankind  as  superstitious  and  as  slavish  as  they  were 
a  quarter  of  a  century  back.  They  will  be  deceived.  They 
will  never  again  see  a  touch  of  the  "  holy  thorn"  sought  afler  in 
France  as  a  cure  for  a  cancer.  The  present  race  of  perverse  old 
women  cannot  live  forever,  and  they  will  have  no  successors.  The 
young  ones  do  not,  and  will  not,  believe  that  holy  water  will  pre- 
serve them  from  thunder  and  lightning  ;  and,  unless  they  believe 
this,  there  is  no  fear  of  their  husbands  becoming  slaves.  The 
common  people  in  England  believe  in  an  almanac,  called  "  Moore's 
almanac ;"  they  believe  that  the  cunning  people  who  publish  it 
have  a  knowledge  of  events  of  all  sorts,  and  especially  the  mea- 
tker.  Many  of  the  farmers  refer  to  this  aluianac  to  know  when 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  359 

they  ought  to  cut  their  grass  or  to  slay  their  pigs.  You  will 
hardly  believe  this  in  America ;  but  I,  in  the  face  of  my  coun- 
trymen, assert  it  to  be  a  fact.  The  men  who  sell  this  book  find 
their  accounts  in  it.  It  is  sold  by  the  company  of  stationerSj  who 
serve  our  rabble,  in  this  respect,  in  the  stead  of  priests.  The 
people  of  France  are  far  more  enlightened.  The  pairings  of  St. 
Andrew's  nails,  which  used  to  be  a  most  precious  relic,  would  now 
be  used  only  as  manure  in  that  country.  The  breeches  of  Po- 
como,  so  wonder-working  in  former  times,  would  now  fetch  only 
their  worth  as  old  rags.  Napoleon  (and  that  was  his  greatest 
fault)  gave,  in  some  sort,  a  sanction  to  falsehood,  and  hypocrisy, 
and  imposture,  by  going  to  mass.  He  did  not,  indeed,  compel 
any  body  else  to  go  to  mass :  but  his  example,  in  this,  was  of 
evil  tendency.  The  act  was,  besides,  a  compromise  with  fraud. 

Still  the  world  owes  him  much,  and  particularly  for  having,  by 
his  return  to  France,  left  no  doubt  in  the  mind  of  any  man,  that 
in  the  restoration  of  the  old  family  the  French  people  had  no  share. 
It  was  alwavs  asserted  that  the  French  people  longed  for  the  re- 
turn of  the  Bourbons.  Louis  was  called  le  desire.  But  now  it 
must  be  clear  to  everybody,  that  he  was,  and  now  is,  restored  by 
FOREIGN  FORCE  ALONE.  The  case  is  now  too  plain  to  be  confus- 
ed or  misrepresented.  It  is  a  triumph  of  kings  or  priests  over 
republican  institutions.  None  doubt  of  the  triumph  ;  no  one  can 
deny  that;  but  it  is  not  the  act  of  the  people  of  France.  They 
had  tried  the  ancient  dynasty  before;  they  had  tried  the  new  or- 
der of  things  ;  the  ancient  dynasty  was  restored  ;  and  they  again 
drove  away  the  ancient  dynasty,  which  is  now  again  (by  this  time, 
I  dare  say)  restored  by  the  means  of  a  combined  foreign  army, 
who  have  defeated  the  armies  of  France. 

So  sensible  are  the  aristocrats  of  this,  that  they,  even  now, 
are  almost  afraid  of  the  ultimate  consequences  of  their  success. 
They  do  not  see  their  way  clearly  out  of  the  adventure.  Are 
the  foreign  armies  to  be  kept  up  in  France  ?  Is  France  to  be  dis- 
armed ?  How  long  can  either  last  ?  The  truth  is,  France  is 
too  extensive  and  too  populous  to  be  long  kept  down.  She  is  not, 
and  cannot  be,  loaded  with  debts.  The  moral  effects  of  the  re- 
volution  cannot  now  be  eradicated.  It  is  useless,  in  short,  to  re- 
store the  king,  unless  they  could  also  restore  the  breeches  of  St. 
Poeomo,  and  the  virtues  of  the  holy  thorn.  These,  and  divine 
right,  must  rise  together,  or  neither  can  stand  for  any  length  of 
ti«e.  The  king,  who  will  hardly  call  himself  le  desire  this  time, 
has,  in  his  proclamation  to  his  "  loving  subjects,"  denied  that 
he  ever  meant  to  restore  the  tythes  or  the  feudal  riglUs  ;  and 
yet  these  are  of  older  date  than  his  title  to  the  throne.  At  any 
rate,  he  will  never  long  maintain  his  throne  without  them.  They 
are  as  necessary  to  his  political  power  as  food  is  to  his  body ;  or. 


360  Letters  of  William  Gobbdt,  Esq. 

rather,  as  swords,  guns,  and  powder,  are  to  the  army  now  em- 
ployed in  his  restoration. 

So  you  see,  that  a  counter  revolution  is  not  a  thing  so  easily 
accomplished  as  many  seem  to  imagine.  Your  New-England  no- 
blesse and  priests  will,  I  dare  say,  rejoice  exceedingly  at  this 
triumph  of  the  kings  and  priests  in  Europe ;  and  we,  in  England, 
have,  in  some  sort,  good  reason  to  boast  of  it ;  but  still,  it  Napo- 
leon were  to  be  murdered  to-day,  and  all  the  old  republicans 
fcaiiged  up  to-morrow,  the  thing  would  not  be  more  than  a  tenth 
part  over.  Foreign  armies  must  remain  in  France,  or  there  is 
no  security  for  the  king's  remaining  on  the  throne.  When,  then, 
is  fhis  state  of  things  to  terminate  ?  Not,  at  any  rate,  before 
another  hundred  millions  are  added  to  the  debt  of  England ;  and 
even  for  years  to  come,  it  will  be  impossible  for  the  allies,  upon, 
their  principles,  to  disarm  to  any  considerable  extent.  The 
whole  of  Europe  is  in  a  ferment.  Light  has  gone  forth,  and  it 
is  impossible  to  put  it  out.  Hanging  and  quartering  will  do  nothing 
towards  it.  Men  must  again  believe  in  the  virtues  of  holy  water* 
That  was  the  main  prop  of  the  power  of  the  Bourbons ;  and  with- 
out that,  they  will  in  vain  endeavour  to  keep  themselves  long  up- 
on the  throne  without  the  aid  of  foreign  armies. 

How  a  sensible  man  in  France,  quietly  settled  on  his  farm, 
must  laugh  at  all  that  is  passing  !  He  must  be  highly  amused  at 
seeing  us  taxed  anew  to  the  amount  of  a  tenth  part  of  our  pos- 
sessions for  the  purpose  of  forcing  him  and  his  countrymen  to 
endure  the  sway  of  a  Bourbon  ;  a  Bourbon  desire  too !  He  must 
laugh  to  see  how  we  are  fretting,  and  fuming,  and  arming,  and 
fighting,  and  paying  away  our  money,  to  prevent  him  from  being 
a  republican  citizen.  He  must  wonder  what  we  are  taking  all 
Ibis  trouble,  and  incurring  all  this  expense^or.  But  if  he  knew 
what  boroughs  were,  his  wonder  would  soon  cease.  If  he  knew 
what  effect  these  have  in  making  us  so  generously  anxious  about 
the  regularly  governing  of  other  countries,  he  would  soon  cease 
to  be  surprised  at  our  late  zeal  and  our  present  joy. 

You,  in  America,  understand  this  matter  well.  I  read,  with 
great  pleasure,  in  many  of  your  papers,  the  just  descriptions 
which  you  gave  of  our  motives  in  these  wars.  But  you  may  be 
deceived  as  to  the  effect  of  them.  Nations  are  often  ruined 
while  their  governments  are  gain  ing  force.  We  are  screwed  up 
to  a  war  pitch,  and,  while  we  are  at  war,  we  are  strong.  You 
saw  how  we  were  enfeebled  by  the  last  peace,  short  as  was  its 
duration ;  and,  I  assure  you,  that  there  is  now,  in  this  country,  a 
general  dread  of  the  effects  of  peace.  Our  situation  is  this,  the 
taxes,  on  account  of  the  debt,  and  the  army  and  navy,  are,  and 
must  be,  so  great,  that  England  must  be  the  dearest  country  in 
the  world.  Even  this  second  restoration  of  the  Bourbons  will, 
I  should  suppose,  coat  us  about  four  millions  of  taxes  annually, 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  3J51 

FOR  EVER,  which  alone  is  more  than  the  whole  of  your  reve- 
nue. As  to  discontents  in  England,  think  nothing  of  them ; 
they  are  not  worth  your  notice.  But  income,  ingenuity,  in- 
dustry, will  ail  seek  cheap  living;  and  those  who  have  to  buy 
goods  will  go  to  the  cheapest  market.  This  debt  and  array  will 
produce  a  serious  change  in  our  affairs,  in  a  short  time.  We  may, 
possibly,  see  the  French  people  tolerably  ill  treated  ;  but  that 
will  not  pay  our  taxes. 

By  these  wars  against  the  French,  we  have  added  nearly  fif- 
teen millions  a  year  to  our  peace  taxes.  And  what  have  we  got 
which  we  might  not  have  had.  if  we  had  remained  at  peace? 
The  French  had  then  a  king  ;  they  then  had  abolished  feudal 
rights  ;  they  then  had  abolished  tythes.  And  have  they  not 
done  so  now  ?  But  the  noblesse  are  HOW  to  have  their  titles. 
The  fools  might  have  had  their  chateaux  and  their  lands,  if  they 
had  not  run  away  to  join  the  foreign  armies ;  and  now  these  are 
sold  away  from  them.  What,  then,  have  we  gained  for  our  fifty 
millions  of  taxes  to  be  paid  annually  in  peace  ?  Ask  your  New- 
England  right  honourables  this,  and  they  will  tell  you  that  we 
have  got  a  great  deal ;  for,  that  we  have  got  "  regular  govern- 
ment and  social  order."  I  am  yours,  &c. 

WILLIAM  COBBETT. 

near  Southampton,  5th  July,  1815. 


TO 

Gentlemen, 

I  BEG  you  to  communicate  my  thanks  to  the  Republican 
Citizens  of  Albany,  and  to  assure  them  that  I  think  myself  high- 
ly honoured  by  their  present,  especially  when  I  take  into  view  the 
grounds  on  which  it  has  been  presented,  and  the  enlightened  state 
of  the  public  mind,  in  the  country  whence  it  has  traversed  the 
ocean  to  find  me  in  this  obscure  village. 

Certainly,  if  my  advice  had  been  followed  by  the  statesmen 
of  England,  the  late  war  with  America  would  never  have  taken 
place.  But  I  am  far  from  certain  that,  seeing  the  result,  the  war 
has  not  been,  or,  at  least,  wiil  not  prove,  in  the  end,  beneficial  to 
mankind;  and  that  is  to  say,  beneficial  to  the  real  representa- 
tive, or,  self-government.  For,  without  freedom,  what  is  man 
better  than  the  beasts  of  the  field.  These  have  an  abundance  to 
eat  and  drink,  to  wear,  and  whereon  to  repose  ;  and,  therefore,  are 
not  in  any  wise  surpassed  in  happiness  or  in  dignity  by  the  sub- 
jects of  despots,  whatever  names  or  forms  the  despots  or  des- 
potism may  assume.  And,  without  real  representative  govern- 
ment, freedom  cannot  exist.  There  are  only  two  states  in  civil 
society  :  one,  in  which  the  governed  give  their  assent  to  the  laws ; 
the  other,  in  which  laws  are  made  without  their  assent.  The 

46 


362  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

first  is  a  state  of  freedom ;  the  other  a  state  of  slavery.  IIT  the 
one  case  the  people  submit  to  rules  agreed  on  by  themselves ;  in 
the  other  they  submit  to  a  musUr. 

The  suit  of  clothes  which  you  have  sent  me,  proves  very 
clearly  that  you  can  make  as  fine  and  as  beautiful  broadcloth  as 
any  in  the  world.  Those  to  whom  I  have  shown  it,  say  it  is  the 
very  finest  they  ever  saw.  But  though  I  rejoice  exceedingly  at 
your  astonishing  progress  in  this  and  other  branches  of  manufac- 
ture, which,  for  the  reasons  given  by  me  in  my  preface  to  a  re- 
publication  of  Mr.  LIVINGSTON'S  work  on  sheep,  1  look  upon  an 
a  change  in  the  affairs  of  the  world,  singularly  favourable  to  the 
happiness  of  all  people,  and  as  unfavourable  to  (he  cause  of  des- 
potism ;  still  the  war  has  been  more  beneficial  to  mankind  in  an- 
other way,  the  events  and  the  termination  of  it  having  clearly  prov- 
ed, that,  to  defend  a  country  against  the  most  powerful,  and  active, 
and  best  disciplined  enemies,  there  need  be  neither  standing  armies, 
privileged  orders,  titles,,  decorations,  nor  expensive  government, 
provided  the  people  be  the  makers  of  their  own  laws,  the  choosers 
of  tneir  chiets,  and  be,  at  the  same  time,  enlighfened  in  their  minds. 
Tins  is  the  great,  the  important,  the  most  useful  fact,  which  the 
late  war  has  established  beyond  all  dispute. 

The  pensioned  BURKE  talked  of  lilies  and  privileges  as  the 
cheap  defence  of  nations ;  as  if  he  had  forgotten  the  imraeiwe 
sums  of  money  wiih  which  these  are  always  accompanied.  You 
will  see  that  nearly  a  million  of  dollars  have  been  voted  to  one 
of  our  commanders  for  one  victory,  beside  nearly  two  millions 
before  for  other  military  services.  These  sums  would  make  a 
deep  cut  into  the  whole  of  your  country's  revenue  for  a  year. 
But,  while  this  is  going  on,  it  has  been  stated  in  parliament  that 
the  county  jails  are  filled  with  debtor  farmers,  and  the  country 
swarms  with  paupers.  If,  indeed,  the  pensioned  BURKE  had  seen 
you,  with  a  PRESIDENT,  costing  '25  thousand  dollars  a  year,  and 
with  generals  and  commodores,  unpensioned,  untitled,  urged  on 
solely  by  the  love  of  freedom  and 'a  sense  of  duty,  not  only  de- 
fending the  sacred  soil  of  their  country,  but  performing  deeds  of 
heroism  without  a  parallel  in  the  annals  of  European  nations,  with 
all  their  titles,  decorations,  and  pecuniary  rewards ;  if  he  had  lived 
to  see  this;  if  he  had  seen  the  war  wound  up  by  a  village  lawyer 
at  New- Orleans,  with  a  band  of  raw  militia,  whose  officers  even 
were  scarcely  in  uniform,  by  defeating,  and  putting  to  flight,  after 
an  immense  slaughter,  superior  numbers  of  the  best  disciplined, 
and^bravest,  and  best  commanded  invaders  that  Europe  ever  had 
to  boast  of;  if  he  had  lived  to  see  this,  and  to  see  your  brave  coun- 
tryman, JACKSON,  without  title  or  pecuniary  reward,  return,  per- 
haps, again  to  his  occupation  at  the  bar — then,  indeed,  the  pen- 
sioned BUKKE  might  well  Lave  exclaimed,  behold,  here>  the  cheap 
defence  of  nations. 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  368 

It  is  by  establishing,  and  making  known  throughout  the  world, 
facts  like  these;  it  is  by  affording  such  lessons  and  such  examples 
to  mankind,  that  the  late  war  has  done  a  good  which  far  outweigh* 
all  the  temporary  misery  which  it  occasioned.  Those  lessons, 
and  those  examples,  must,  in  the  end,  produce  their  due  degree 
of  effect.  But  give  me  leave  to  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity 
to  express  my  anxious  hope  that  it  will  be  the  constant  object,  the 
never-ceasing  care  of  the  people  of  America,  to  guard,  as  they 
would  guard  the  apple  of  their  eye,  those  principles  of  their  con- 
stitutiou  which  forbid  the  creating  of  privileged  orders.  To  you 
the  introduction  of  titles  would  be  the  death  of  freedom.  The 
very  first  step  towards  that  fatal  measure  would"  be  followed  by  a 
corruption  of  manners  and  every  evil  of  civil  society.  Whene- 
ver men  in  such  a  state  as  yours  begin  to  wish  to  place  themselves 
and  families  abo\e  the  mass  of  their  fellow  citizens,  they  start 
without  restraint  in  the  career  of  all  sorts  of  baseness.  The  ap- 
pellations and  epithets  of  Squire,  and  Excellency,  and  Honour, 
and  Honourable^  given  amongst  you,  without  thought,  in  general, 
have  a  mischievous  tendency.  What  have  you  to  do  with  these 
old  badges  of  the  feudal  times,  or  these  modern  inventions  of  Eu- 
ropean courts  ?  The  president,  the  governor,  the  members  of  con- 
gress, the  secretary,  the  ambassador,  the  commodore,  the  general, 
the  judge,  the  sheriff,  the  mayor,  the  justice,  the  doctor,  the  priest, 
if  you  have  one,  are  sufficiently  designated  and  sufficiently  ho- 
noured when  they  are  called  by  the  name  of  their  office.  Any 
thing  further  smacks  of  aristocracy — which,  wherever  great  riches 
are  accumulated,  requires  to  be  watched  as  narrowly  as  those 
weeds,  which,  if  not  checked  in  time,  would  completely  overtop, 
subdue,  and  destroy  the  crops  destine.]  for  the  food  of  man. 

The  happiness  of  America  arises  chiefly,  not  from  the  great 
learning  possessed  by  any  part  of  her  citizens,  but  frofn  the  en- 
lightened state  of  the  minds  of  the  whole  population.  This  haa 
arisen  from  the  means  of  education  which  all  possess.  These 
means  arise,  not  so  much  from  the  superior  industry  of  Americana 
(for  they  labour  less,  far  less,  than  the  people  of  England)  as 
from  the  cheapness  of  their  government,  which  may  safely  be 
cheap,  because  it  is  strong  in  the  good  sense,  the  information, 
freedom,  and  happiness  of  the  people.  Next  lo  your  enlightened 
state  of  mind  comes,  as  a  cause  of  your  happiness,  that  modera* 
tion  in  the  desire  to  amass  wealth,  which  is  the  natural  conse- 
quence of  an  absence  of  titles  and  family  distinctions.  All  the 
money  of  Peru  would  not  place  either  of  your  sons  above  the 
son  of  your  poorest  neighbour.  Since,  therefore,  no  great  end  is 
to  be  obtained  by  the  possession  of  wealth,  men  are  less  likely  to 
use  unjustifiable  means  in  obtaining  it,  as  well  as  less  likely  to  ap- 
ply it  to  a  corrupt  use,  or  to  heap  it  on  one  child  to  the  ruin  of  all 
the  rest.  Hence  that  equal  distribution  of  property ;  hence  that 


364  Letters  of  William  C'obbett, 

stubborn  spirit  which  makes  the  labourer  refuse  to  call  hia  em- 
ployer master;  hence  that  consciousness  of  self  worth,  which 
makes  meanness  and  Crimea  so  rare  ;  and  hence,  in  the  Americans, 
that  fidelity  to  their  country  and  their  colours,  and  that  contempt 
for  their  enemies, -which  naturally  must  produce,  and  which  al- 
ready have  produced,  such  wonderful  effects. 

Introduce  family  distinctions  and  primogenitureship,  and  all 
these  blessings  vanish  at  once.  It  would  not  take  ten  years  after 
that  to  fill  your  country  with  sinecure  placemen  and  pensioners, 
political  spies  and  informers,  hired  writers,  fraudulent  and  servile 
domestics  and  labourers,  and  paupers  too  base  to  be  numbered 
amongst  them.  If  you  wajjt  an  instance  of  the  lengths  to  which 
a  thirst  after  titles  and  family  distinctions  will  lead  me/),  look  at 
Napoleon.  See  that  wonderful  man  ;  that  matchless  soldier ;  that 
wise  lawgiver  ;  the  brave,  the  generous,  the  acute,  the  experien- 
ced Napoleon;  see  him,  even  to  the  very  last  moment  of  his  pow- 
er ;  and  when  he  knew  that  that  power  was  just  departing,  in  all 
human  probability  forever  from  his  grasp,  still  clinging  to  his  un- 
fortunate desire  to  have  royal  descendants.  There  can  be  no 
question  that  it  was  this  desire,  and  the  acts  which  it  produced, 
that  finally  have  led  the  kings  and  their  subsidized  armies  to  Paris. 
When  the'French  people  had  been  used  to  an  emperor  for  some 
years,  they  were  no  longer  ashamed  to  think  of  receiving  a  king. 
The  emperor,  by  moulding  the  reppblic  into  an  empire,  prepared 
it  to  become  a  kingdom.  This  he  manifestly  did  for  the  sake  of 
family ;  from  that  accursed  motive  of  vanity,  which  has  ruined 
the  reputation  of  so  many  really  great  men,  and  has  plunged  so 
many  nations  into  misery.  Guard  against  the  indulgence  of  it  in 
your  country,  I  beseech  you.  You  are,  happily,  free  from  titles 
and  family  distinctions.  Make  it  a  rule  to  look  upon  every  one  as 
an  enemy  of  the  country,  who  makes  the  smallest  attempt  to 
introduce  them  ;  and  thus  will  you  keep  the  scourge  from 
amongst  you. 

Another  evil  for  you  to  guard  against,  is,  any  increase  in  the 
power  of  the  priesthood.  If  you  look  at  Europe,  you  will  see 
the  amount  of  the  evils  which  this  power  ha&  produced.  The 
struggle  now  in  France  is,  in  fact,  between  the  priesthood  and 
freedom  of  thought.  If  the  enemies  of  France  do  not  restore  the 
power  of  the  priesthood,  they  will  do  nothing  at  all,  at  least  to- 
wards the  accomplishment  of  their  great  object:  that  is,  the  era- 
dicating of  what  they  call  the  jacobin  system :  whenever  the 
priesthood  have  power,  that  power  is  sure  to  be  employed  on  the 
side  of  what  is  called  "  regular  government  ;"  that  is,  the  keep- 
ing of  men  in  order  by  coercive  means.  It  is  very  odd,  but  the 
fact  is  so,  that  even  you  find  priests  of  all  denominations  pull 
together  in  this  way,  though  they  are  daily  and  hourly  accusing 
each  other  of  teaching  false  doctrine.  Each  tells  you  that  it  is 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

sinful  not  to  believe  in  what  he  teaches,  while  he  tells  you  that 
all  other  sorts  of  priests  are  lo  be  listened  to  also,  though  ail  those 
others  tell  jou  that  he  is  in  the  wrong.  How  can  you  account 
for  the  wonderful  zeal  of  the  protestant  clergy  of  Europe  to  re- 
store the  pope  and  catholic  religion  ?  Does  not  this  zeal  put  the 
subject  in  a  light  so  clear  as  to  make  it  impossible  longer  to  misun- 
derstand it?  Does  it  not  show,  that  priests  of  all  denominations, 
though  they  pronounce  the  creed  of  each  other  to  be  damnable, 
make  common  cause  as  towards  the  people?  Dues  it  not  show, 
that  they  are  all  on  the  side  of  "  strong  government  ?"  There- 
fore, take  care  to  give  them  no  means  of  possessing  an  influence 
in  your  political  affairs. 

By  the  same  conveyance,  I  received  a  printed  copy  of  propo- 
sals for  repubiishing,  in  an  octavo  volume,  by  Messrs.  BELDEK 
and  Co.  of  NEW-YORK,  my  Letters  on  the  late  War.  This  also, 
has,  as  may  be  supposed,  given  me  great  pleasure.  It  is  another 
striking  instance  of  the  great  power  of  Ike  press;  and  it  is  a 
proof  to  me,  that  my  labours  are  not  thrown  away.  It  is  another 
motive  to  industry.  When,  after  long  tugging  against  wind  and 
tide,  the  almost  exhausted  and  despairing  mariner  sees  his  little 
bark  beginning  to  make  ahead,  courage  returns  to  his  heart,  and 
strength  to  his  arms;  he  makes  new  and  greater  exertions  ;  and, 
finally,  he  overcomes  all  obstacles.  So,  I  hope,  it  will  be  with  me. 
I  now  see  that  I  have  forced  sreat  and  valuable  truths  amongst 
the  millions  of  freemen  who  inhabit  America,  as  well  as  amongst 
iny  own  countrymen.  I  feel  pride,  which  I  cannot,  and  which  I 
do  not  wish  to  disguise,  when  I  reflect,  that  what  I  write  in  this 
Httle  village,  is,  in  a  few  weeks  afterwards,  read  by  many  mil- 
lions of  people  here,  and  in  another  hemisphere,  and  those,  too, 
the  most  enlightened  of  mankind.  I  must  be,  and  I  am,  proud 
to  see  these  essays  of  mine,  written,  sometimes,  in  the  space  of 
a  day,  and  amidst  cares  innumerable,  and  pursuits  that  demand 
and  receive  my  attention  from  daylight  to  dark,  thought  worthy 
of  being  moulded  into  pamphlets  and  books.  And  this  gives  me 
the  greater  pleasure,  when  I  reflect,  that  no  advertisements,  no 
puff*  nor  revifrvs,  that  no  extraneous  aid  of  any  sort,  has  ever 
been  resorted  to  by  me ;  but  that  my  essays,  unsupported,  and 
unprotected,  have  been  sent  forth  to  find  their  way  throughout  the 
world. 

In  conclusion,  gentlemen,  I  shall  announce,  through  this  chan- 
nel, my  intention  to  put  into  execution,  a  measure  which  I  have 
long  had  in  view,  which  I  am  certain  would  be  greatly  beneficial 
to  the  people  of  America,  which  I  had  actually  begun  while  in 
prison,  and  which  was  laid  aside  on  account  of  the  war.  I  have 
perceived,  from  several  American  writings  on  agriculture,  and  es- 
pecially from  Mr.  Livingston's  work  on  sheep  ;  and,  indeed,  I 
know  the  fact  from  my  own  observation,  that  your  long 


366  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

and  late  springs  are  a  great  impediment  to  the  keeping  of  g» 
large  numbers  of  all  sorts  of  animals  which  afford  sustenance  to 
man,  and  especially  of  sheep,  as  might  otherwise  be  reared  and 
maintained.  I  am  of  opinion  that  it  is  in  raj  power  to  teach  you, 
speaking  always  from  my  own  knowledge  and  actual  experience, 
how  to  remedy  the  defect  of  a  want  of  abundance  of  suitable 
food  for  all  such  animals  during  these  seasons.  I  mean  to  say, 
that  if  any  farmer,  who  now  farms  in  the  old  way,  as  I  saw  it  in 
Pennsylvania,  will  follow  my  instructions,  he  will  be  entbled,  with 
scarcely  any  additional  capital  or  expense,  to  double  the  quantity 
of  live  stock  upon  his  farm.  A  booic,  having  this  object  in  view, 
is  now  preparing  by  my  eldest  son,  and  will  be  sent  to  be  pub- 
lished in  PiiiLiJ.ilfiiiia,  in  the  month  of  November  next.  I  mean 
the  manuscript  will  go  hence,  in,  or  before  that  month 

With  these  views,  gentlemen,  and  not  with  the  views  of  our 
agricultural  societies,  whose  minds  seem,  in  general,  to  partake 
essentially  of  the  earth,  whence  they  take  their  appellation,  I 
propose  to  communicate  the  intended  instructions  on  the  culture 
and  preservation  of  winter  and  spring  food  for  cattle  and  sheep  ; 
and  if  the  communication  should  be  attended  with  success,  it 
will  always  be  a  gratification  to  me  to  reflect,  that  it  will  be  justly 
thought  to  have  arisen,  in  some  degree,  or,  at  least,  to  have  been 
accelerated  by  the  gratitude  which  has  been  excited  by  your 
obliging  and  public  spirited  letter. 

I  cannot,  even  here,  conclude,  without  congratulating  you  most 
cordially  on  the  defeat  of  the  Algerines  by  the  gallant  Decatur 
and  his  no  less  gallant  companions.  Even  in  this  your  republic 
has  given  a  blow  to  tyrants  in  general.  Even  in  this  your  ex- 
ample is  of  great  weight.  Even  in  this  does  the  world  see  a  proof 
of  those  sound  and  just  principles,  which  are  the  basis  of  your 
political  institutions.  To  free  the  captive  from  the  lash  of  bar- 
barians ;  to  restrain  them  from  future  cruelties  ;  to  punish  them 
for  past  torments  inflicted  on  the  innocent ;  to  make  the  sea  the 
safe  highway  of  nations;  to  avenge  the  insults  and  the  violences 
committed  against  freemen,  these  are  motives  of  war  worthy  of 
Auierica.  A  Louis,  king  of  France,  acquired  the  title  of 
SAINT  Louis,  because^  at  the  instigation  of  the  pope  and  the 
priests,  he  fought  against  these  same  Algerines  to  make  them 
change  their  religion.  Your  ground  of  war  is  very  different :  it 
is  that  of  a  free  and  enlightened  people,  drawing  the  sword  in  the 
cause  of  unequivocal  justice  and  humanity.  Our  newspapers, 
and  so  will  it  be  with  the  reviews  and  magazines,  (except  the 
Monthly  Magazine,)  are  very  dry  and  shy  upon  this  subject. 
They  notice  the  account  of  your  victory,  but  they  do  it  in  a 
way  which  clearly  shows  that  they  are  very  sorry  for  it.  They 
do  not  siy  this  in  so  many  words;  but  that  this  is  their  feeling  is 
manifest.  The  truth  is,  they  feel  it  to  be  a  blow  against  tyranny 


Letters  of  William  Cobbdt,  Esq.  367 

generally  ;  and  they  also  smell  danger,  though  distant,  in  the 
encouragement  which  it  will  certainly  give  to  the  growth  of  your 
navy,  which,  to  them  and  their  supporters,  is  the  most  hidtous  of 
all  ideas.  They  think,  and,  indeed,  they  say,  that  France  will 
now  be  crippled  for  a  <  entury  ;  and  I  shall  not  be  at  all  surprised, 
if  they  soon  begin  to  inculcate  the  necessity  of  crippling  you  tor 
a  like  season.  I  will  take  care  to  convey  to  you  an  account  of 
their  proceedings ;  and,  once  for  all,  let  uie  beseech  you  most 
earnestly  TO  READ  THIS  ACCOUNT  WITH  ATTEN- 
TION. 

Be  you  united,  however,  and  you  have  nothing  to  fear.  No 
compromise  with  traitors  ;  no  compromise  with  men  who  clearly 
aim  at  the  subversion  of  your  freedom;  but  moderation  towards 
all  who  honestly  differ  in  opinion.  Mutual  concession  there  must 
be  among  those  who  honestly  differ,  or  your  country  will  be 
divided  and  enslaved.  Let  not  a  consciousness  of  your  valour 
lull  you  into  a  false  security.  You  are  all  armed,  can  all  shoot, 
are  all  willing  to  fight ;  but  there  wanis  organization.  You 
want  adopted,  and  that,  too,  directly,  the  plan  of  Major  Cart~ 
wright,  detailed  ina  li(tle  work  called  "ENGLAND'S  JEcis  ;'* 
that  is,  the  means  of  effectually  defending  the  country  without  a 
standing  army,  I  wish  this  work  was  in  the  hands  of  your 
governors  and  president.  Once  organized  according  to  (he  plan 
of  that  work,  you  might  set  all  the  world  at  defiance  ;  without 
such  organization  the  time  may  come  when  your  country  will  be 
in  imminent  danger. 

The  duty  of  every  free  man,  and  his  very  first  duty,  is  to 
prepare  himself  for  the  defence  of  his  freedom.  To  say  that  he 
is  always  ready  to  fight  in  that  defence  to  his  last  breath  is  not 
enough.  Actually  to  be  ready  to  do  this  is  still  short  of  the 
mark.  He  should  not  only  be  ready  and  willing  so  to  fight,  but 
he  should  be  able  to  fight,  to  exert  his  courage  and  patriotism  to 
the  greatest  possible  advantage.  And  this  is  not  to  be  accom- 
plished wiihout  organization;  without  constant  attention  to  thi§ 
great  duty ;  without  cheerful  submission  to  regulations  agreed 
on ;  without  an  ever-active  vigilance  ;  without,  in  short,  making  all 
private  concerns  give  way  to  this  paramount  consideration.  This 
is  the  way  to  preclude  the  necessity  of  a  standing  army,  with  all 
its  accompaniments  of  heavy  taxes,  dissolute  manners,  and  in- 
sidious distinctions  ;  this  is  the  way  to  live,  in  safety,  at  peace 
with  all  the  world  ;  this  is  the  way,  and  the  only  way,  to  preserve 
inviolate  your  political  institutions,  to  prevent  the  prodigious  in- 
crease of  your  population  and  your  wealth  from  endangering  your 
liberties,  and  to  hand  down  to  posterity  that  happiness  and 
freedom,  that  ease  and  plenty,  which  you  have  received  from  the 
hands  of  your  wise  and  gallant  fathers. 


365J  Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

With  theee  reflections  deeply  impressed  upon  ray  mind  ;  with 
an  anxious  desire  that  they  may  awaken  attention  in  yonr  country; 
with  sincere  wishes  for  the  happiness  of  your  country  in  general, 
and  of  yourselves  in  particular, 

I  am,  gentlemen,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  COBBETT. 

Botley,  July  16,1815. 


TY  PHES. 

THE  article  which  I  have  given  below  with  this  title,  taken  from 
the  Cork  Chronicle,  1  hope  my  frienda  in  America  will  read  with 
attention.  Il  shows  them  what  they  are  to  expect  if  their  Cos- 
sa'k  Priesthood  should  succeed  in  their  attempts  to  establish  a 
dominant  church.  Not  only  will  they  exact  a  tenth  of  their  corn, 
and  their  cattle,  which  grow  and  are  fed  in  the  fields,  but  their 
fruit,  their  apples,  their  pears,  their  plumbs,  and  all  those  choice 
and  delicious  products  which  constitute  the  kitchen  garden,  and 
are  so  consoling  to  the  heart  of  man,  will  be  tythed  by  these  rapa- 
cious fiends,  who,  as  was  the  case  in  France  before  the  revolution, 
had  the  impudence  there  to  assert,  that  the  earth  and  its  fulness 
is  their  heritage,  and  that  the  people,  over  which  they  had  assum- 
ed a  sway,  were  created  merely  to  be  fleeced  by  them.  It  is  for 
this,  and  this  only,  that  the  priesthood  in  America  are  exerting 
themselves  to  overthrow  the  republican  government.  They  feel, 
that  under  a  frugal  government,  which  is  careful  to  teach  every 
man  his  duty  in  society,  without  calling  in  the  aid  of  spiritual 
teachers,  there  is  no  chance  of  their  being  able  to  establish  an  em- 
pire over  the  mind.  This,  the  foundation  of  all  their  power,  being 
unattainable, 'their  grand  object  is  to  bring  into  discredit  that  sys- 
tem which  presents  so  formidable  a  barrier  to  their  encroach- 
ments. 

From  the  Cork  Chronicle. 

Bishop  of  Cloyne's  Court. — Our  readers  may  recollect  that 
we  called  their  attention  some  time  since  to  the  subject  of  certain 
citations  issued  from  this  court  at  the  suit  of  the  Rev  Thomas 
Carson,-  Rector  of  Kilmahon,  for  the  recovery  of  tythe  of  green 
clover,  apples,  pears,  plumbs,  and  cherries,  which  grew  in  a  kit- 
chen garden.  On  Tuesday  last,  the  court  was  crowded  to  excess, 
principally  a  very  respectable  number  of  gentlemen,  assembled  to 
witness  the  proceedings.  However,  upon  reading  the  citation,  it. 
was  discovered  that  it  was  erroneously  filled,  so  that  the  claim  of 
the  Rev.  Pastor  was  dismissed,  after  going  through  part  of  the 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  369 

evidence.  We  have  been  informed  that  the  vicar  general  took 
ibis  opportunity  of  censuring,  in  very  strong  and  energetic  language, 
such  novel  modes  of  proceeding  as  the  present,  and  expressed 
his  hope  that  this  would  be  the  last  time  he  should  witness  claims 
of  this  nature  brought  into  his  court.  However,  we  have  been 
informed  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Carson  declared  in  open  court  his  in- 
tention of  recommencing  the  suit.  It  was  brought  against  Wm. 
Abbott,  Esq.  of  Ballymalee,  a  young  gentleman  connected  with 
the  most  respectable  families  of  the  society  of  friends,  throughout 
the  country,  and  from  whose  well-cultivated  farm,  of  133  acres,  the 
Rev.  Pastor  requires  a  considerable  yearly  income  in  tythe.  This 
gentleman  has  been  remarkable  for  his  very  kind  attention  to  a 
widowed  mother,  and  a  number  of  brothers  and  sisters,  who  were 
left  a  barihen  upon  him  at  a  very  early  period  of  life.  The  same 
Rev.  Gentleman  was  dismissed  upon  two  other  citations  on  the  same 
day,  one  of  which  was  for  the  tythe  of  a  small  quantity  of  flax 
which  grew  in  a  head  land  of  a  cornfield,  the  tythe  of  which  had 
been  duly  paid. 


To  the  people  of  all  parties  in  the  United  States  of  America— 
on  the  necessity  of  their  being  prepared  for  the  defence  of 
their  country. 

BEFORE  this  reaches  you,  you  will  have  heard  of  the  great  events 
which  have  taken  place  in  Europe.  Those  events,  if  you  se- 
riously look  at  them,  will  convince  you  that  it  is  high  time  for  you 
to  betake  yourselves  to  the  means  of  making  your  country  a  dura- 
ble asylum  for  the  oppressed  of  all  nations  ;  a  safe  abode  of  free- 
dom. This  is  in  no  way  to  be  done,  but  by  arming  yourselves  ; 
by  keeping  yourselves  constantly  armed  ;  by  being,  at  all  times, 
ready  to  enter  the  field  of  battle  ;  and  this  state  of  preparation  is 
to  be  effected  only  by  wise  organisation. 

If  you  look  into  our  newspapers  of  a  fortnight  past,  you  will  see, 
that  they  have  now  openly  and  unreservedly  promulgated  princi- 
ples, according  to  which  your  country  might  be  laudably  invaded, 
your  cities  laid  in  ashes,  your  women  violated,  yourselves  robbed 
and  murdered,  even  in  the  hour  of  peace.  You  will  see,  that  they 
recommend  the  perpetual  imprisonment,  or  the  murder  of  NAPO- 
LEON, who  has  given  himself  up  as  a.  prisoner  of  war,  whose  victo- 
ries were  never  stained  by  cruelty  or  insult  to  the  captive,  and  to 
whose  clemency  so  many  old  reigning  families  owe  the  preserva- 
tion of  that  power,  under  the  combination  of  which  he  has,  at  last, 
fallen.  You  will  see,  that  they  recommend  the  murder  of  every 
man  who  has  distinguished  himself  by  his  exertions  against  the 

47 


370  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

horrible-  feudal  and  ecclesiastical  tyranny  formerly  existing  in 
France.  You  will  see,  that  they  almost  literally  thirst  for  the 
blood  of  every  man  in  France,  who  has  done,  or  who  is  suspected 
of  wishing  to  do,  any  thing  to  preserve  the  liberties  of  the  French 
nation.  You  will  see  that,  now  that  Napoleon  is  wholly  unable  to 
act  against  the  kings  of  Europe,  these  men  are  directing  their  ma- 
lice against  all  that  they  think  likely  to  oppose  their  views  of  uni- 
versal oppression.  You  will  see  that,  as  the  king  of  France 
does  not  appear  disposed  to  shed  blood,  and  to  strip  the  people 
almost  of  their  very  skins,  these  men  are  urging  the  allies  to  take 
the  work  into  their  own  hands.  You  will  see,  in  short,  that  they 
have  now  undisguisedly  avowed,  that  England  and  Europe  can 
never  be  safe,  while  one  particle  of  freedom  is  left  in  France, 
whiie  any  thing  but  misery  and  slavery  are  left  in  that  populous 
and  extensive  country. 

We  are  not  to  believe  it  possible  that  these  savage,  these  mur- 
derous recommendations,  will  be  followed  ;  nor,  if  followed,  are  we 
to  believe,  that  the  wishes  of  these  fiends  in  human  shape  would 
be  accomplished.  We  are  not  to  believe  it  possible,  that  any 
king,  or  any  minister,  will  entertain  the  wish,  much  less  attempt 
the  deed,  of  making  neighbouring,  or  rival,  nations  wretched  ufoi' 
a  century,"  lest  their  growth  and  prosperity  should  endanger  his 
power  and  means  of  living  in  splendour.  We  are  not.  to  believe 
it  possible,  for  instance,  that  any  king,  or  minister,  of  England,  will 
ever  entertain  the  horrid  wish  of  "putting  you  back  for  a  cenlU' 
r?y,"  that  you  may  not  be  able  to  cope  with  him.  But,  while  you 
actually  see  that  there  are  public  writers,  even  in  this  country, 
who  not  only  openly  avow  such  wishes,  and  that,  too,  with  respect 
to  America,  as  well  as  with  respect  to  France,  ought  you  not  to 
think  it  possible,  that,  in  some  part  or  other  of  the  world,  sooner 
or  later,  the  principles  of  these  men  may  possess  the  minds  of 
these  who  may  be  able  to  endeavour,  at  least,  to  put  them  into 
execution  ? 

These  writers  are  men  of  great  weight  in  the  world.  You 
have  seen  the  numerous  instances  in  which  they  appear  to  have 
been  the  dictators  of  faction  in  mighty  affairs.  Their  writings 
are  never  to  be  despised.  They  are  always  to  be  attended  to; 
and  I  beseech  you  to  attend  to  them.  They  hate  you  mortally, 
chiefly  because  you  are  really  frc£,  and  because  you  exhibit  to 
the  world  the  great  example  of  order,  tranquillity,  prosperity  un- 
paralleled, under  a  government  of  such  mildness  and  cheapness. 
They  are  men  of  excellent  memories  :  revenge  is  never  extin- 
guished in  their  breasts;  from  the  same  motive  that  they  now  re- 
commend the  murder  of  the  great  and  generous  conqueror  of  the 
continent  of  Europe,  they  would,  if  they  had  the  power,  tear  your 
bodies  to  pieces.  Be  you  assured,  that  these  men  will  die  with- 
out having  felt  one  single  moment  of  solid  satisfaction,  unless  they 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  371 

gee  your  political  institutions  destroyed,  your  country  made  a 
heap  of  ruins,  and  yourselves  reduced  to  the  most  degrading  sla- 
very. 

While  you  know  that  such  passions  are  existing  in  the  world  ; 
while  you  see  that  the  human  mind  may  be  so  brutalized,  so  cor- 
rupted, and  so  hardened  against  the  feelings  which  nature  inspires, 
it  becomes  you  to  guard  your  liberties  and  your  lives  ;  to  begin 
betimes  to  prepare  for  their  protection  against  the  acts  to  which 
such  passions  may  Gnally  lead.     And  let  not  any  party  amongst 
you  suppose,  that  these  men,  if  they  could  stir  up  an  enemy  against 
you,  would  make  any  exceptions  in  favour  of  that  party.     Until 
they  saw  half  a  million  of  the  allies  in  France  they  were  applauding 
the  royalists,  and  urging  them  on  to  cut  the  throats  of  their  re- 
publican countrymen.     But  now  they  make  no  distinction.     It  is 
now  France  that  is  to  be  punished,  it  is  now,  not  Napoleon,  not 
the  jacobins;  it  is  France  that  is  to  be  "put  back  for  a  century." 
Only  think,  for  a  moment,  of  the  means  that  must  be  used  to  ac- 
complish such  a  purpose.     Only  think  of  the  pillaging,  the  mur- 
ders, the  acts  of  devastation,  which  are  necessary  even  to  afford 
a  chance  of  effecting  such  an  end.     Only  think  of  the  rancour, 
the  bloody  mindedness,  that  must  have  engendered  such  an  idea. 
These  men   now  applaud  the  federalists,   whom  they  call  the 
"  sound  part  of  the  people."     But  if  they  could  urge  any  power 
to  invade  you,  the  federalists  would  soon  find,  as  the  royalists  in 
France  now  do,  that  it  is  against  the  whole  country,  against  the 
prosperity   and  happiness  of  the  whole  nation,  that  their  hatred 
is  directed.     Now  and  then,  when  thrown  off  their  guard  by  some 
particular  cause  of  exasperation,  they  confound,  in  their  abuse, 
both  parties  tinder  the  name  of  "  the  Americans ;"  and  I  have 
been  not  a  little  amused  at  reading,   in  a  Boston  federal  paper,  se- 
rious, but  very  plaintive,  remonstrances  upon  this  score,  stating, 
11  that  it  is  unjust  in  these,  our  writers,  to  confound  the  different 
descriptions  of  Americans  thus  ;  that  they  ought  to  discriminate; 
that  they  are  right  in  venting  their  hatred  against  the  democrats; 
but  that  they  should  recollect   that  the  federalists  are  a   very 
good  and  respectable  sort  of  people,  lovers  of  order  and  religion, 
and  that,  besides,  they  actually  fight  the   battles  of  these  writers 
in  America."     Let  these  malignant  men  only  be  able  to  stir  up 
the  means  of  doing  you  mischief,  and  the  authors  of  these  humble 
wailings    will  soon  see  that  their  hatred,  like  the  bullet,  is  no  re- 
specter of  parties  or  persons.     Before  the  allies  were  in  France, 
they  told  us  that  all  the  "  sound  part  of  the  community''  (keep 
this  phrase  in  mind)  were  decidedly  in  favour  of  the  king,  and  es- 
pecially the  "good  and  respectable  Bourgoisie."     But  HOW  they 
announce  to  us,   with  delight,  the  sums  of  money  and  the  masses 
of  food  and  drink  \vhich,  as  they  tell  us,  the  allies  are  compelling 
Hie  "  soz'/u?"  as  well  as  unsound  to  pay.     They  tell  us,  with  par- 


3f-2  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

iicular  satisfaction,  that  the  "  honest  old  marshal  Blucher"  la 
quartering  his  soldiers  upon  the  people  of  Paris  ;  that  is,  upon  the 
"good  and  respectable  Bourgoisie,"  who  were  so  hearty  and  faith- 
ful in  the  cause  of  the  king.  This  is  the  treatment  they  approve 
of  as  to  the  royalists  in  France  ;  this  is  the  way  in  which  they 
turn  round  upon  their  friends  there.  And  would  they  not  do  the 
same  towards  their  friends  in  America  ? 

I  will  here  insert  a  passage  from  the  TIMES  newspaper,  and 
one  from  the  COUKIEII,  under  the  date  of  the  28th  July,  1H15, 
in  order  to  giv  you  a  specimen  of  the  views  of  our  leading  pub- 
lic prints.  An  again  and  again,  I  beseech  you  to  mark  well 
their  conduct:  fo.  I  tel!  you,  as,  indeed,  you  must  know,  that 
they  are  not  singit.  in  their  way  of  thinking.  We  will  first 
hear  the  COUUIKR  : 

44  We  have  been  given  to  understand  that  the  conditions  which 
the  allied  sovereigns  think  it  necessary  to  dictate  to  Fiance  in  her 
twice  captured  capital,  will  be  made  known  in  a  few  days.  One 
of  the  French  papers  on  Monday  announces  that  the  treaty  of 
Paris  is  to  be  maintained ;  that  of  course  the  territory  of  France 
remains  untouched  ;  that  there  are  to  be  contributions  imposed  for 
the  expenses  of  the  war,  all  participation  in  which,  it  is  under- 
stood, have  been  renounced  by  two  of  the  powers  ;  (we  trust  we 
are  not  one  ;)  that  the  allied  troops  will  soon  retire,  except  about 
150,000  Russians,  who  will  evacuate  the  country  by  25,0^00  at 
a  time,  in  proportion  as  the  French  army  becomes  reorganized  ; 
that  the  emperor  of  Austria  has  declared,  "that  wishing  to  avoid 
all  cause  of  jealousy  or  umbrage,  he  will  not  leave  a  single  Aus- 
trian corps  in  France.  The  Journalist  then  concludes,  with  com- 
pliments to  the  magnanimity  of  the  allied  powers.  Magnanimity  ! 
call  it  rather  folly ;  but  we  do  not,  and  cannot  believe  them  to 
be  capable  of  throwing  away,  in  this  manner,  the  advantages 
they  have  gained,  and  of  sacrificing  their  duty  to  their  subjects. 
.Leave  the  French  territory  as  it  was !  and  thus  leave  her  the 
power  to  disturb  again  the  repose  of  Europe  !  Endanger  Belgium ! 
For  will  any  man  say  she  can  be  secure  whilst  France  keeps  her 
northern  fortresses  1  The  paragraph,  therefore,  in  the  Paris 
Journal  cannot  be  correct.  The  following  arrangement,  we  hear, 
will  be  found  to  be  nearer  the  truth.  The  immediate  disbanding 
of  the  army  of  the  Loire  by  the  king;  an  ordinance  to  that  effect 
may  be  expected  in  a  day  or  two.  Why  not  extend  the  decree 
to  the  other  armies  of  France  ?  The  raising  another  army  com- 
prised of  men  who  have  proved  their  fidelity  to  the  king.  The 
delivery  en  depot  to  the  allies  of  the  three  strongest  fortresses  till 
this  new  army  is  raised  and  ready  to  act.  Eight  millions  of  fr»nrs 
us  an  indemnification  to  the  allies  of  their  expenses.  (800  mil- 
lions would  not  indemnify  them.)  The  punishment  of  the  prin- 
cipal offenders  to  be  left  to  the  prudence  of  the  king.  If  suck 


Letters  of  William  Cobbell,  Esq. 

be  the  principal  outlines  of  the  new  arrangement,  we  can  only 
say  that  they  will  be  any  thing  but  satisfactory.  A  new  army 
HIM  if  be  faithful  and  loyal  to  the  king,  and  the  king  may  be  paci- 
fically inclined  ;  but  suppose  he  should  not ;  suppose  his  succes- 
sor should  not  ;  suppose  he  should  be  forced  to  follow  the  war- 
like impulse  of  the  nation.  The  real,  wise,  and  safe  policy,  is, 
to  reduce  the  power  of  France;  that  is  the  only  way  to  prevent 
her  from  disturbing  the  peace  of  Europe.  It  is  with  nations  as 
with  individuals.  Who  of  US,  after  being  HUMBLED  BY 
AN  ENEMY,  IS  NOT  ANXIOUS  TO  BE  REVENG- 
ED OF  THAT  ENEM  Y?  We  should  insist  upon  the  sur- 
render, or,  at  least,  the  razing,  all  the  northern  fortresses  of 
France;  we  should  make  her  give  up  the  spoliations  of  Louis 
XVI.  Why  not  bestow  Lorraine  upon  Austria,  and  Alsace 
upon  Prussia?  Lastly,  every  one  of  her  pictures  and  statues 
should  be  removed." 

Pray,  mark  well  the  words  which  J  have  put  in  large  capitals. 
Mark  the  words  :  "  who  of  us,  after  being  humbled  by  an  enemy, 
is  not  anxious  to  be  revenged  of  that  enemy  .?"  Mark  these  words, 
write  them,  engrave  them  in  your  minds ;  never  lose  sight  of 
them  for  a  moment.  They  speak  to  yov,  and  that,  too,  with  a 
voice  of  thunder.  But,  to  turn  to  France.  You  see,  now,  they 
are  for  acting  aa  if  the  king,  ay,  as  if  the  Bourbon  king  was 
their  enemy.  He  was  every  thing  that  was  good,  till  the  allies 
got  possession  of  the  capital,  many  of  the  fortressesj  and  a  large 
part  of  the  territory  of  France  ;  before  that  time,  these  men  only 
wanted  to  get  rid  of  Napoleon,  that  disturber  of  Europe  ;  but 
the  moment  France  was  in  their  hands,  they  could  no  longer  trust 
even  the  king.  They  now,  as  you  see,  wish  to  dismember,  and 
cripple,  and  even  destroy  France.  They  now  cry  for  the  de- 
struction of  the  power,  not  of  any  men,  or  any  party,  but  the 
power  of  France  herself. 

Let  us  now  hear  the  editor  of  the  TIMES  of  the  same  date. 
After*calling  upon  the  government  to  murder  Napoleon ;  after 
asserting,  that,  if  he  be  not  publicly  put  to  death,  Despard  was 
murdered,  he  proceeds  thus  : 

"  Is  it  considered  what  effect  the  knowledge  of  his  being  iu 
existence  must  necessarily  have  on  the  disaffected  in  every  part 
of  Europe  ?  They  will  think,  and  think  with  truth,  that  the  al- 
lied sovereigns  are  afraid  to  touch  the  life  of  a  man  who  has  so 
many  adherents  and  admirers.  This,  of  course,  will  increase 
the  number  of  his  adherents,  and  the  fervour  of  their  admiration. 
If  in  the  depth  of  his  degradation,  their  idol  can  inspire  respect ; 
if  the  cultivators  of  religion,  and  virtue,  and  loyalty,  are  forced 
to  bow  down  before  the  splendour  of  his  crimes,  even  when  un- 
der eclipse,  what  must  they  do  at  the  happy  moment,  when  he 
bursts  forth  again  from  behind  the  cloud ;  a  moment  towards 


Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq. 

which  his  followers  will  look  with   more  devout  anxicly  than  the 
Indian  does  to  the  first  dawning  of  a  day,    marked  by  astrology 
as  the  most  fortunate  of  his  life.     Indeed,  it  must  be  granted,  that 
Ihe  extraordinary  escapes  which  this  man  has  had  from  the  hands 
of  justice,  are  well  calculated  to  create  a  kind  of  superstition  in 
the  minds  of  those  who  have  been  already  dazzled  by  his  fame. 
He  trusts  himself  to  those  whom  he  has  most  injured,  as  Daniel 
braved  the  fury  of  the   lions,  or  as    the  three  brethren  walked 
through  the  fiery  furnace :  and   our  folly,  our  cowardice,  works 
the  miracle  of  his  safety  !     As  long  as  he  lives,  therefore,  treason 
and  rebellion   must   be  everywhere    at  work.     His  escape,  his 
release,  his  reappearance  must  be  constantly  expected.     Instead 
of  an   infamous    criminal,  he  will   be   considered  as  an   injured 
prince,  unjustly  kept   from   the  embraces  and  salutations    of  a 
longing  people  ;  and  when  at  last  he  breaks  prison,  (which  sooner 
or  later  he  undoubtedy  will  do,)  his  return  will  be  more   triumph- 
ant, and  his  power  more  firmly  consolidated   than  ever.     He  is 
to  be  guarded  by  an  English  regiment.     But  the  whole  regiment 
is  not  always  on  guard  ;  is  it  imagined  that  an  English  sentinel 
alone,  can  neither  be  bribed  nor  eluded  ?     In  the  English  army, 
too,  it  may  be  asked,  whether  there  are  none  of  those  weak  and 
•unreflecting  men,  mho  admire  daring  successful  crime  ?     To 
speak  plainly,  is   it  not  a  known  fact,  that   many  even  of  the 
English  officers  are  personal   admirers  of  Napoleon  Buona- 
parte.'' Most  of  these  young  gentlemen  (for  it  is  of  the  younger 
sort  that  I  speak)  have  no  better  reading  than  the  Morning  Chro- 
nicle, or  the  Edinburgh  Review,  or   some  other  worthless  pro- 
duction, in  which  this  monster  is  usually  described  as  the  first  of 
heroes,  the  great  captain  of  the   age,  &c.     It  is  no  wonder  that 
such  studies  should  dazzle  their  imagination,  and  confound    their 
moral  sense  ;  and  we  may  be  assured,  that  so  long  as  Napoleon 
Buonaparte  lives,  this  very  serious  evil  will  go  on  increasing." 

Now,  can  you  suppose  that  a  monster  like  this  writer,  who 
would  commit  a  deliberate  murder  in  revenge  on  a  man  for* being 
an  object  of  admiration,  would  not,  if  he  could,  gladly  cut  all 
?/o«r  throats,  men,  women,  and  children  ?  The  fears  that  the 
wretch  feds  aud  describes  are  a  proof  of  the  falsehoods  of  his 
accusation  ;  for  if  Napoleon's  deed*  were  such  as  he  asserts  them 
to  have  been,  what  reason  can  there  be  to  take  away  his  life,  lest 
so  large  a  part  of  mankind  should  still  feel  an  interest  in  his  fate  ? 
He  would  have  Napoleon  murdered,  not  because  he  has  doHe  that 
which  has  made  him  an  object  of  hatred  and  contempt,  but  be- 
cause he  has  done  that  which  has  made  him  an  object  of  love 
aud  admiration.  Having  thus  disposed  of  Napoleon,  he  comes  to 
the  French  army,  the  whole  of  whom  also  he  seenis  to  wish  la 
i*ee  disposed  of  in  the  same  bloody  way. 


Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq.  375 

"  The  first  point,"  says  he,  "  and  without  which  all  others 
would  be  nugatory,  is,  that  the  army  of  the  Loire,  whatever  may 
be  the  terms  on  which  the  king  may  be  disposed  to  accept  of 
its  submission,  shall  be  disbanded  ;  an  intimation  to  that  effect 
will,  we  have  some  reason  to  suppose,  be  published  in  a  day*  or 
two.  If  the  troops  give  up  their  arms,  disperse,  and  retire,  as  they 
will  be  required  to  do,  their  past  rebellion,  atrocious  as  it  has 
been,  will  be  overlooked ;  but  should  they  obstinately  persevere 
in  their  criminal  conduct,  we  suppose  that  they  themselves  can 
hardly  wish  to  be  forgiven ;  a  preponderating  force  will  be  sent 
against  them.  Indeed,  that  this  army,  got  together  by  treason, 
led  by  the  traitor  himself  into  the  field,  and  there  defeated,  should 
think  it  possible  that  it  can  coexist  with  any  regular  and  legal 
government,  is"  incredible.  Our  great  doubt  as  to  the  effectual 
execution  of  this  article,  results  from  the,  character  and  habits  of 
the  men  ;  they  are  chiefly  without  homes,  inured  only  to  camps, 
garrisons,  battles,  and  familiar  with  no  other  hopes  than  such  as 
are  incident  to  those  courses  of  life,  plunder,  advancement,  or 
what  they  term  glory  ;  so  that  it  is  next  to  impossible  thut  such 
men  should  ever  learn  to  limit  themselves  to  the  sober  expecla- 
tionsof  TRANQUIL  LIFE." 

So  that,  if  these  men  may  attempt  to  prevent  the  absolute  and 
entire  conquest  of  their  country,  they  are  not  to  expect  to  avoid 
being  hanged  !  and,  if  they  lay  down  their  arms,  and  are  willing  to 
disperse,  they  "  have  no  homes,"  and  it  is  impossible,  or  next  to 
impossible,  that  they  should  ever  return  to  tranquil  life.  At 
once  ruffian  and  hypocrite !  He  knows  well  that  if  that  army 
could  be  completely  annihilated,  France  would  have  no  chance 
of  salvation.  But  let  me  beseech  you  to  recollect  what  these 
men  formerly  said  about  the  persons  composing  this  same  army. 

While  Napoleon  was  leading  this  army  to  victory;  while  this 
army  was  following  him  over  Europe,  these  writers  bewailed  their 
fate.  They  were  then  poor,  unhappy  youths,  dragged  from  the 
firesides  of  their  fond  and  respectable  parents,  tied  hand  and  foot, 
and  thus  carried  to  the  army,  and  compelled  to  fight.  Oh!  how 
these  writers  "  pitied"  them  and  their  parents !  Ay,  that  they 
did,  from  the  bottom  of  their  souls  !  Vile  hypocrites,  and  they 
now  call  these  same  persons  robbers.  They  say  they  are  "  with- 
out homes,"  and  recommend  the  massacre  of  them,  it  being  next 
to  impossible  that  they  should  return  to  tranquil  life. 

And  do  your  federalists  imagine,  that  they  would  be  put  in 
possession  of  power,  if  these  men  could  stir  up  a  conquering  ene- 
my against  you  upon  their  principles  ?  If  once  they  saw  your 
country  overrun,  your  government  put  to  the  rout,  they  would 
that  very  moment  talk  of  the  whole  of  you  in  a  lump.  They 
would  call  every  thing  follyt  "  criminal  weakness"  short  of  the 
utter  ruin  of  your  country.  Nay>  have  you  not  already  had  a 


376  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

specimen  of  their  moderation  ?  Before  the  victories  over  Napo- 
Icon,  last  year,  they  always  talked  of  "  the  sound  part"  of  you, 
They  only  wished  to  defend  our  rights,  and  to  live  upon  good 
terms  with  you.  They  said  that  the  "  sound  part  of  the  peo- 
ple'' were  with  them  ;  and  that  the  war  party  were  a  French 
faction,  who  hated  England  because  she  was  the  great  "  bulwark 
of  religion."  Do  you  remember  how  they  changed  their  tone,  all 
in  a  moment,  when  they  heard  of  the  fall  of  Napoleon  ?  Do 
you  remember  that  they  then  said  that  wo  peace  could  be  made 
with  JAM&S  MADISON  ;  that  no  treaty  ought  to  be  signed,  ex- 
cept at  the  head-quarters  of  the  English  army  in  the  heart  of 
the  United  Slates  ?  Do  you  remember  how  soon  they  dropped 
fill  distinctions  in  their  invectives,  and  called  for  the  flogging  of 
"  the  Americans  /"'  Do  you  remember  that  they  .insisted,  that 
no  peace  should  be  made  with  you,  until  your  political  institu- 
tions had  been  subverted,  until  your  civil  and  political  state  had 
been  destroyed ;  until  that  "  mischievous  example  of  successful 
DEMOCRATICAL  REBELLION"  had  been  done  away  ?  Until 
this  was  effected,  they  said  that  there  could  be  no  safely  for  the 
regular  governments  of  the  civilized  world.  Not  a  word  did  they 
then  say  about  the  sound  part  of  the  community ;  not  a  word 
about  the  federalists ;  not  a  word  about  "the  good  people  in 
the  eastern  states  ;"  not  a  word  about  Mr.  Otis  or  the  other 
Misters,  whom  they  used  to  praise.  They  looked  upon  the  con- 
quest of  your  country  as  sure  ;  and  they  were  preparing  for  call- 
ing aloud  for  the  "  punishment"  of  you  all*  It  was  the  "mis- 
chievous example  of  the  success  of  democratic  rebellion"  that 
they  wished  to  destroy.  And  were  not  the  federalists  democratic 
rebels,  as  well  as  the  rest  ?  All  your  presidents,  and  all  your 
governors,  were,  according  to  these  men's  views  of  the  matter, 
"  democratic  rebels."  What  reason,  then,  could  they  have  to 
suppose,  that  they  were,  by  these  writers,  intended  to  be  spared 
any  more  than  the  rest  of  the  people  ?  In  all  their  praises  of 
"  the  sound  part  of  the  people,"  they  were  actuated  by  the  de- 
sire of  obtaining  the  aid  of  the  federalists  in  rendering  your  ruin 
more  certain  and  more  complete. 

Two  months  have  not  passed  over  our  heads  since  these  wri- 
ters were  applauding  the  sending  of  arms  and  ammunition  to  the 
royalists  of  La  Vendee,  whom  they  called  brave,  faithful,  reli- 
gious, and  whom  they  urged  on  to  exterminate  the  jacobins,  as 
they  called  them,  who  were  opposed  to  the  Bourbons.  Now,  be- 
cause (he  Vendeans  do  not  seem  to  relish  the  total  conquest,  the 
dismemberment,  and  utter  ruin  of  their  country  by  foreign  armies, 
they  confound  them  with  (he  army  of  Marshal  Davoust ;  (hey 
lump  them  along  with  the  other  parties  ;  and  even  accuse  them 
of  ingratitude  !  They  are  called  ungrateful  to  England,  be- 
cause (hey  do  not  appear  inclined  to  aid  in  the  despoiling  even 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  377 

the  king  of  his  territories ;  even  that  king  to  fight/or  whom  they 
received  their  arms  and  ammunition  !  But  what  is  this  more  than 
they  had  before  done  with  regard  to  your  federalists  ?  When 
they  saw  notices  of  the  meeting  of  the  convention  at  Hartford, 
they  chuckled  with  delight ;  they  cheered  them  on  ;  they  ap- 
plauded the  conduct  of  the  promoters.  But  when  the  conven- 
tion broke  up,  with  merely  agreeing  to  an  application  to  be  made 
to  the  several  states  to  join  them  in  demanding  a  reform  of  the 
federal  constitution,  our  writers  turned  round  upon  them  with 
reproaches  of  all  sorts.  "  What !"  said  the  Times  newspaper, 
"  is  THAT  ALL  ?  We  expected  a  division  of  the  union  to  be 
declared  at  once;  or,  at  least,  the  impeachment  of  Madison  and 
his  associates.  These  conventionalists  are  men  of  no  vigour. 
Why  do  they  not,  like  the  brave  Vendeans,  take  up  arms  and 
co-operate  with  our  naval  and  military  commanders  ?  Thia 
was  what  we  expected :  or,  at  the  very  least,  we  expected  the 
neutrality  of  the  New-England  states  to  be  declared.  As  things 
now  stand,  these  states  ought  no  longer  to  experience  our  for- 
bearance, seeing  the  ingratitude  with  which  our  past  forbearance 
has  been  repaid." 

Was  there  ever  impudence  like  this  heard  of  before  ?  Is  not 
this  insulting  the  feelings  of  mankind?  And  what  humiliation 
must  it  have  been  to  Mr.  Otis  and  others  to  have  been  objects  of 
such  men's  praise  ?  I  do  not  impute  to  the  Hartford  convention, 
the  base  design  of  aiding  in  the  subjugation  of  the  country,  and  in 
the  destruction  of  freedom  amongst  men ;  but  if  we  take  the  then 
circumstances  of  America  into  view,  it  is  impossible  to  deny  that 
they  intended  so  to  embarrass  the  general  government  as  to  com- 
pel it  to  do  what  would  have  been  disgraceful,  at  least,  to  their 
country,  in  order  to  sink  their  rivals,  and  raise  themselves  upon 
their  ruin,  and  this  was,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  carrying  party  spi- 
rit to  an  unwarrantable  length.  There  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind,  nor 
in  that  of  a.iy  man  of  information  that  I  have  ever  conversed  with 
on  the  subject,  that  it  was  the  encouragement  held  out  by  the  con- 
duct of  men  in  the  eastern  states  which  prolonged  the  war  after 
the  peace  of  Paris  ;  and,  indeed,  it  was  that  encouragement  which, 
more  thau  any  thing  else,  produced  the  icar.  I  hope  that  those 
men  will  now  take  warning.  That  they,  like  the  Vendeans,  will 
now  see,  that  the  praises  bestowed  on  them  by  our  writers  are  only 
upon  the  presumption,  that  they  are  ready  to  cut  the  throats 
of  their  countrymen,  and  to  aid  in  the  subjugation  of  their 
country. 

If  I  were  asked  why  these  writers  of  ours  should  be  such  impla- 
cable enemies  to  the  freedom  and  happiness  of  mankind  ;  why  they 
should  desire  to  stir  up  war,  internal  strife,  and  all  manner  of  evilg 
against  every  nation  where  freedom  is  enjoyed,  I  might  answer, 
that  I  am  not  bound  to  show  the  cause  of  their  abominable  wishes, 

48 


378  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

having  so  clearly  shown  that  they  have  those  wishes.  But  the 
cause  appears  to  be  thi?:  they  see,  they  feel,  that  the  weight  ot 
the  taxes  in  England,  joined  to  other  causes,  must,  if  the  world  be 
left  in  quiet  tor  years,  produce  a  great  degree  of  decline  in  this 
country.  These  men  have,  for  many  years,  been  bawlers  for  war. 
They  now  tell  us  that  the  war  has  been  crowned  with  glorious 
success  ;  but  they  foresee  that  peace  to  us  will  be  not  what  peace 
usually  has  been.  They  saw  that  the  peace  of  Paris,  instead  of 
crowding  our  ports  with  ships  and  goods,  and  filling  our  streets 
with  the  bustle  of  trade,  produced  a  calm,  a  stillness,  as  to  trade, 
truly  gloomy.  They  saw  that  our  own  people  flocked  to  Fiance 
for  comfortable  living.  They  saw  enterprising  tradesmen  and 
manufacturers  flocking  to  America.  They  saw  the  houses  rfland 
near  London  unteuanted.  They  everywhere  heard  of  the  decay 
of  trade,  and  of  ruined  farmers.  They  saw  that  without  a  law  to 
raise  the  price  of  corn,  the  taxes  could  not  be  paid  by  either  land- 
lord or  tenant.  They  saw,  in  short,  that  the  war  had  created  the 
cause  of  impossibility  to  live  in  peace ;  while  France  on  one  side, 
and  America  on  the  other,  held  forth  the  temptations  of  liberty 
and  abundance.  And  they  saw,  which,  observe,  was  not  the 
smallest  object  of  their  terror,  that  the  landlords  and  tenants,  in 
almost  every  part  of  the  country,  complained  of  the  hardship  of 
tythes,  and  pointed  out  the  example  of  France,  where  tythes  had 
been  abolished.  They  know  that  we  have  about  forty  five  mil- 
lions of  pounds,  or  180  millions  of  dollars^  a  YEAR,  to  pay  in 
taxes  for  ever,  being  the  interest  of  the  debt,  instead  of  the  nine 
millions  of  pounds,  or  36  millions  of  dollars,  which  we  had  to  pay 
on  this  account  before  the  mar.  They  see,  that  in  consequence 
of  the  increase  of  industry  produced  in  France  by  the  revolution, 
and  of  our  burdens  produced  by  the  war,  the  French  are  able  to 
sell  in  our  markets  at  much  less  than  half  the  price  that  we  must 
sell  at,  or  must  leave  the  taxes  unpaid.  They  see  all  these  things. 
They  are  seized  with  a  panic}  that  the  "tight  little  Island"  will 
become  as  desert  as  that  on  which  CAPTAIN  LAKE  put  the  poor 
i'ellow  Jeffries,  who  was  saved  by  the  kindness  of  one  of  your 
countrymen  j  and,  in  the  rage,  inspired  by  their  forebodings,  they 
would,  if  they  could,  render  every  other  country  too  miserable  for 
man  to  live  in.  They  do  not  recommend  the  reducing  of  the 
army  to  what  it  was  before  the  war.  They  know  that  this  would 
not  answer  their  purpose.  They  might  recommend  the  reduction 
of  the  navy  ;  but,  then,  you  stare  them  in  the  face.  The  civil 
list  is  indispensable.  They  would  recommend  to  wipe  off  the 
tlebt ;  but,  then,  the  whole  systera  crumbles  tp  atoms.  Their  last 
resource  is,  the  hope,  by  their  writings,  to  stir  up  the  means  oi' 
making  otiier  nations  still  more  wretched. 

The  state  of  this  country,  as  regards  the  means  of  enjoying  hap- 
piness, may  be  pretty  correctly  estimated  by  this  one  fact ;  name- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

ly,  that  a  notice  has  been  given,  in  the  house  of  commons,  that  a 
measure  will  be  proposed,  early  in  the  next  session,  to  lay  a  tax 
upon  the  property  of  all  persons  who  Khali  go  to  reside  out 
of  the  king's  dominions,  from  which  tax  those  residing  in  them 
shall  be  exempt,  I  do  not  believe  it  likely  for  such  a  law  to  pass  ; 
but,  after  what  we  have  seen,  I  do  not  pronounce  it  to  be  impossi- 
ble. At  any  rate,  the  idea  has  been  seriously  enough  entertained 
to  produce  its  mention  in  parliament.  Reflect,  then,  for  a  moment, 
on  the  ineafls  which  must  be  used  in  order  to  assess  such  a  tax ; 
reflect  on  the  immediate  superintendance  which  it  would  give  the 
government  over  the  person  of  every  man  of  property:  reflect 
on  the  vassal-like  degradation  to  which  it  would  reduce  us :  re- 
flect on  the  passions  which  such  a  state  of  restraint  would  engen- 
der ;  and,  then,  form  to  yourselves  an  idea  of  the  desperation 
which  must  have  been  the  parent  of  such  a  proposition.  The 
truth  is,  that  the  amount  of  the  taxes  is  now  so  great,  that  all  but 
the  immense  fortunes  are  sinking  under  the  weight ;  and  that,  too, 
with  a  rapidity  that  is  quite  astonishing.  The  necessities  cf  the 
government  require  so  large  a  part  of  every  man's  income  ami 
earnings,  that  numbers  are  seeking  the  means  of  escaping  from  thft 
demand.  Taxes,  when  excessive,  must  create  paupers,  because 
they  go  on  pressing  the  whole  of  a  people  downwards :  and,  of 
course,  those  who  are  but  just  above  the  poor  list,  are  forced  into 
it.  It  has  lately  been  stated  in  parliament,  and  that,  too,  by 
GEORGE  ROSE,  that  the  beggars,  the  common  beggars  in  the  me- 
tropolis alone,  have  increased  to  thirty  thousand  !  Equal  to  near- 
ly half  the  whole  population  of  Philadelphia,  when  I  lived  in 
it.  This  fact  appears  to  have  been  stated  by  George  Rose, 
as  introductory  to  a  measure  for  putting  a  stop  to  the  evil. 

But  how  ?  Would  he  send  the  beggars  to  the  country  ?  We 
are  overstocked  already.  Observe,  trifling  as  is  this  village, 
scarcely  a  day  passes  without  bringing  one,  and  generally  more, 
beggars  to  my  door.  The  vagrant  act  warrants  us  in  taking 
them  before  a  justice,  and  having  them  punished.  But  who  will 
take  the  trouble,  even  if  he  wishes  to  do  it  ?  Thus  are  they  left 
to  wander  about.  They  swarm^ver  the  country  like  the  vermin 
upon  their  own  bodies  ;  and  are  produced  by  causes  nearly  simi« 
lar.  [  have  here  stated  two  striking  facts ;  my  authority  is  the 
parliament  itself.  I  state  them  /tcre,  io  the  face  of  the  country, 
and  I  thus  invite  contradiction  if  that  be  possible.  Let  me,  in 
this  place,  observe,  however,  that  I  do  not  look  upon  myself  as 
bound  to  refrain  from  making  use  of  the  press  of  America, 
when  I  shall  think  that  I  ought  to  state  truths  rvhirh  I  dare  not 
stale  here  ;  but  I  never  will  send  to  that  press,  any  thing,  which 
even  a  federalist  will  not  say,  that  I  ought  to  be  permitted  to  pub- 
lish in  any  part  of  the  world.  I  write  with  the  strong  desire  of 
its  being  read.  I  see  several  millions  of  readers  on  the  other  side 


380  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  E$q. 

of  the  Atlantic.  I  know  many  facts,  many  arguments  occur  to 
ine,  which  I  am  anxious  to  convey  to  the  whole  world  if  possi- 
ble ;  and  if  I  arn  forbidden,  under  enormous  pains  and  penalties,  to 
convey  them  through  the  press  of  this  country,  is  there  any  rea- 
son why  I  should  not  convey  them  through  the  press  of  a  country, 
where  the  prohibition  does  not  exist,  and  where  any  one  is  at 
liberty  to  contradict,  or  to  canvass,  all  I  may  say  ?  The  French 
and  English  writers,  who  used  to  have  their  works  published  at 
the  Hague,  at  Amsterdam,  at  Geneva,  or  elsewhere  abroad, 
were  never  regarded  as  guilty  of  foul  piny  ;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
were,  by  every  lover  of  truth,  applauded  for  the  zeal  which  urg- 
ed them  to  resort  to  this  method  of  overcoming  the  obstacles  to 
its  promulgation. 

To  return  now  to  the  cause  of  the  malicious  efforts  of  the  wri- 
ters of  whom  I  have  so  often  spoken,  and  to  draw  your  attention 
to  which  efforts,  is  the  principal  object  of  this  address ;  this 
cause  appears  to  me  to  be  the  apprehensions  which  the  present 
state  of  England  excites,  joined  to  a  hatred  of  the  very  name  of 
liberty  and  revolution,  contracted  by  these  illiberal  men  ever 
since  they  heard  them  associated  with  the  name  of  Frenchman. 
This,  I  am  well  convinced,  is  the  real  cause  of  their  rancour 
against  France  and  America,  both  of  which,  as  they  constantly 
show,  they  would  gladly  see  utterly  annihilated.  Whether  there 
be  OTHER  PERSONS,  who  entertain  the  same  apprehensions 
and  wishes,  I  must  leave  you  to  conjecture.  But  I  know  that  they 
do,  because  they  discover  the  fact  by  their  words.  They  have 
said  that  America  must  be  put  back  for  a  century.  They  have 
called  (he  attention  of  the  government  to  the  growth  of  your  na- 
vy They  have  said  that,  if  it  be  not  strangled  in  its  birth,  it 
will  be  dangerous. 

They  actually  proposed  to  make  you  give  up  all  your  ships  of 
war,  to  stipulate  never  to  build  another,  and  never  more  to  cast 
a  cannon  or  a  ball. 

You  will  laugh  at  this  ;  but  I  beg  you  not  to  laugh  at  it ;  or, 
at  least,  to  do  something  else  besides  laugh.  In  the  whole  extent 
of  the  world,  it  may  happen,  tlrat  their  principles  may  find  the 
means  to  work  up  some  power  to  assail  you.  Therefore,  I  say, 
be  on  your  guard.  Peace  is  what  you  ought  to  desire  ;  but  it  is 
peace  accompanied  with  safety.  To  preserve  peace  you  must 
always  be  well  prepared  for  your  defence,  at  least.  The  navy 
you  will  not  neelerl.  Its  increase  is  not  dangerous  to  your  free- 
dom ;  or,  not  in  the  way  or  degree  that  a  larger  standing  army 
would  be  considered  to  be  dangerous.  It  is  the  necessity  of 
adopting,  now,  in  the  hour  of  peace,  an  efficient  system  of  inter- 
nal defence  :  defence  of  your  territory  and  homes,  that  I  am 
anxious1  to  impress  uptfn  your  minds.  A  large  body  of  soldiers 
by  profession,  you  cannot  have  without  destroying  yoyr  liberties. 


Letters  of  William  Cabbett,  Esq.  381 

You  must  all  be  prepared  to  march  from  your  immediate  homes  ; 
and  ali  be  able  to  make  a  skilful  use  of  your  arms. 

Mr.  JOHN  CARTWRIOHT,  who  is  generally  called  Major  Carl- 
ivri^ht,  from  his  having  been  a  major  in  the  Northamptonshire 
militia,  who  quitted  the  service,  as  a  lieutenanant  of  the  navy, 
in  the  year  1775,  or  1776,  because  he  would  not  fight  against 
what  he  deemed  the  cause  of  freedom ;  who,  to  the  age  of 
seventy -five,  has  persevered  for  forty  years,  and  still  perseveres, 
in  unremitted  endeavours  to  obtain  a  reform  in  parliament ;  this 
venerable  patriot,  beloved  by  all  who  know  him  for  his  gentle  and 
amiable  manners,  and  honoured  for  his  talenta  and  integrity  even 
by  those  who  are  the  enemies  of  his  political  principles,  seeing 
the  danger  of  invasion  on  the  part  of  France,  in  the  year  1 803, 
and  seeing  the  government  in  great  consternation  as  to  securing 
the  means  of  defence,  republished  a  work  which  he  had  publish- 
ed some  time  before,  entitled  ENGLAND'S  ^Eois,  a  copy  of  which 
he  sent  to  all  ihe  members  of  the  royal  family,  to  all  the  ministers, 
and  many  other  men  of  weight  in  the  country.  To  this  work,  a 
copy  of  which  is  sent  to  Mr.  Matherv  Carey,  of  Philadelphia,  I 
beg  leave  to  call  your  attention.  In  some  of  its  details  it  cannot 
be  adopted  by  you,  on  account  of  the  difference  in  the  division 
of  the  territory,  and  of  theJcivil  authorities  of  the  two  countries. 
But  its  objects  being  to  put  the  country  in  a  situation  to  be  able, 
at  all  limes,  to  defend  itself  against  any  enemy,  however  nume- 
rous and  valiant,  without  a  standing  army,  and  without  regular 
soldiers  ;  its  basis  being  the  duty  of  arms  bearing,  inseparably 
from  the  right  of  representation  in  the  legislature,  it  appears  to 
me,  that  all  its  principles,  and  all  its  outlines  are  exactly  suited 
to  your  case. 

In  the  hope  that  what  I  have  said  may  awaken  amongst  you 
some  portion  of  that  serious  reflection  which  the  subject  demands, 
and  in  the  stronger  hope,  that  you  will  derive  great  and  useful  in- 
formation from  the^work  of  Mr.  Cartwright, 

I  remain  your  friend, 

WILLIAM  COBBETT. 

P.  S.  Since  writing  the  above,  the  peace  between  America 
and  the  Algerine  dey  has  been  announced  as  a  report.  Perhaps 
your  commodore  had  authority  to  make  peace.  Certainly,  with 
such  a  power,  cannon  balls  are  the  best  negotiators.  Whether 
the  pirates  will  abide  by  the  treaty  or  not,  if  it  has  been  made, 
your  government  has  done  itself  great  honour  in  the  affair.  This 
event  will  not,  however,  give  satisfaction  all  over  the  world. 
Algiers  was  a  sort  of  cur  to  be  set  on  as  occasion  may  require. 
However,  you  have  broken  his  jaws,  and  made  him  retire  to  his 
for  the  present.  This  it  truly  a  coble  use  to  make  of  naval 


382  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

power !  It  cannot  fail  to  enhance  your  name,  to  give  pleasure  to 
your  friends,  and  to  add  to  the  mortification  and  viudictiveness  of 
your  enemies.  I  do  not  believe  the  news,  but  if  true,  here  is 
another  thing  which  Mr.  Madison  has  accomplished  previous  to 

his  being  "  deposed."*' 
Botlev,  28th  July,  1815. 


To  Mr.  John   Cartwright,  the  implacable  enemy  of  tyranny — 
on  the  peace  between  England  and  America. 

Dear  Sir, 

BEFORE  I  proceed  to  the  proposed  subject  of  this  letter, 
I  think  it  right  just  to  notice,  that  I  have,  in  addressing  you  now, 
omitted  the  addition  of  Esq.  at  the  end  of  your  name.  It  is 
bectwne  high  time  for  us,  and  all  those  who  think  as  we  do,  to 
partake,  in  no  degree  whatever,  in  this  sort  of  foolery,  especially 
when  we  are  writing,  or.  speaking  upon  the  subject  of  a  peace, 
which  has  been  made  with  a  nation,  whose  Chief  Magistrate  never 
pretends  to  any  title  above  that  of  "fellow  citizen,"  which  he 
shares  in  common  with  all  the  people  of  the  free  and  happy  coun- 
try, at  the  head  of  whose  government  he  has  been  placed  by  the 
vnbovght  votes  of  his  "fellow  citizens." 

I  shall  in  this  letter  endeavour  to  state  clearly,  and  with  as 
much  brevity  as  the  nature  of  the  subject  will  admit,  the  real 
causes  of  the  peace  ;  and  then  we  shall  come  at  those  consequen- 
ces which,  I  think,  we  shall  find  to  be  of  the  utmost  importance  to 
the  cause  of  freedom  all  over  the  world. 

The  peace  has  been  produced  by  various  causes.  When 
Napoleon  had  been  put  down,  this  country  was  drunk  with  ex- 
jiltation.  The  war  with  America  was  generally  looked  upon  as 
the  mere  sport  of  a  month  or  two.  Oor  newspapers  published 
reports  of  speeches,  or  pretended  speeches,  (for  it  is  the  same 
ihing  in  effect,)  in  which  the  orators  scoffed  at  the  idea  of  our 
foaving  any  trouble  in  subduing  a  people,  with  two  or  three  thou- 
sand miles  of  seacoast,  defended  by  raw  militia,  and  by  "half  a 
dozen  fir  frigates,  with  bits  of  striped  bunting  at  their  mast 
heads."  This  phrase  will  be  long  remembered.  One  of  our 
orators  called  vthe  Americans,  as  he  had  before  called  the  Reform- 
ers, "  a  low  and  degraded  crew,"  having  amongst  them  "  no 
honourable  distinctions ;"  and  he  expressed  his  pleasure,  that 
they  were,  as  he  said,  fighting  on  the  side  of  our  enemy.  They 
were,  in  his  eyes,  so  contemptible,  that  he  was  glad  we  had 
them  for  enemies,  and  especially,  as,  in  their  chastisement,  re- 
publicanism would  be  humbled  in  the  dust,  if  not  wholly  de- 
stroyed. 


Letters  of  William  Cobbelt,  Esq.  383 

Such  were  the  sentiments  of  the  greater  part  of  the  nation,  at 
the  time  when  the  Kings  and  Potentates  of  Germany  paid  us  a 
Ti'sit,  and  when  the  "  bits  of  striped  bunting"  were,  seen  re- 
versed under  the  royal  flag  on  the  Serpentine  River.  There  had, 
indeed,  occurred,  before  that  time,  events,  which,  one  would  have 
hoped,  would  have  checked  this  contemptuous  way  of  thinking. 
The  defeat  and  capture  of  the  Gucrriere,  the  Macedonian,  the 
Java,  the  Peacock,  and  divers  other  smaller  ships  of  war,  by  that 
republic,  whose  very  name  we  affected  to  despise,  might  have 
been  expected  to  create  a  doubt,  at  least,  of  our  power  to  annihi- 
late the  republic  in  any  very  short  space  of  time.  But  the 
nation  had  been  cheated  here,  too,  by  the  corrupt  press,  who 
persuaded  them,  that  all  these  losses  arose  from  causes  other  than 
those  of  the  skill  and  valour  of  the  Republicans.  At  one  time, 
it  was  superior  numbers ;  at  another,  heavier  metal  ;  at  another, 
our  own  seamen  inveigled  into  the  republican  ships.  This  de- 
lusion was  kept  up  for  two  years,  until  the  incursion  in  the 
Chesapeake  seemed  to  have  closed  the  scene ;  and,  you  will  bear 
in  mind,  that,  at  that  time,  it  was  the  almost  universal  opinion,  that 
our  Regent  would  soon  send  out  his  Viceroy  to  Washington  City. 

It  was  even  at  this  very  moment,  however,  that  the  tide  began 
to  turn.  The  gallant  little  army  of  republicans  on  the  Niagara 
frontier,  had  before  proved,  at  Chippenia,  that  they  were  made  of 
the  same  stuff  that  composed  their  ancestors  ;  and,  at  Fort  Erie, 

they  now  gave  a  second  most  signal  proof  of  the  same  kind. 

While  these  never-surpassed  acts  of  devotion  to  country  were 
performing  on  the  borders  of  Lakes  Ontario  and  Erie,  Lake  Chain- 
plain  exhibited  a  spectacle,  which  struck  with  wonder  all  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe,  and  which,  in  fact,  astounded  every  man  of 
sense  here,  who  had  before  clamoured  for  the  war.  It  is  true, 
that  this  was  only  a  repetition  of  the  scene,  exhibited  the  year 
before  on  Lake  Erie,  where,  with  an  inferior  number  of  men  ami 
guns,  the  republican  Commodore  Perry  had  beaten  and  actually 
captured,  the  whole  of  our  fleet  under  Commodore  "Barclay  ;  but 
all  eyes  were  at  that  time  fixed  on  the  continent  of  Europe.  The 
expected  fall  of  Napoleon,  and  the  real  victories  over  him,  made 
the  loss  on  Lake  Erie  (a  loss  of  immense  importance,  as  is  now 
seen)  to  be  thought  nothing  of.  Our  great  object  then,  was  Na- 
poleon. He  once  subdued,  the  republic,  it  was  thought,  would 
be  done  for  in  a  trice.  To  suppose  that  she  would  be  able  to 
stand  against  us,  for  any  length  of  time,  appeared,  to  most  men, 
perfectly  ridiculous.  A  far  greater  part  of  the  nation  thought 
that  it  was  our  army  who  had  put  down  Napoleon.  Indeed,  the 
commander  of  them  was  called,  "  the  conqueror  of  France;'" 
and,  it  was  said,  that  a  pait  of  the  conquerors  of  France,  sent 
to  America,  would,  in  a  few  months,  "  reduce"  the  country. 


384  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

A  part  of  them  were,  accordingly,  sent  thither ;  and  now  we 
are  going  to  view  their  exploits  against  the  republicans  on  the  bor- 
ders of  Lake  Champlain.  The  governor  general  of  Canada,  Sir 
George  Prevost,  having  received  the  reinforcements  from  Ki  ance, 
invaded  the  republic  at  the  head  of  14,000  men,  withyii'e  major 
generals  under  him,  four  troops  of  dragoons,  four  companies  of 
royal  artillery,  one  brigade  of  rocketeers,  one  brigade  of  royal 
sappers  and  miners.  The  first  object  was  to  dislodge  the  repub- 
licans from  Fort  Moreau,  near  the  town  of  Plattsburgh,  on  the 
edge  of  the  lake,  about  15  miles  within  the  boundary  line  of  the 
republic.  In  this  fort  were  1,500  republican  regulars,  and  not 
more,  and  6,000  volunteers  and  militia  from  the  states  of  Vermont 
and  New- York,  under  the  command  of  a  very  gallant  and  accom- 
plished citizen,  named  Macomb,  a  brigadier  general  in  the  republi- 
can service.  While  Sir  George  Prevost  attacked  the  fort  by  land 
Commodore  Downie,  with  his  fleet,  was  to  attack  it  by  water.  The 
attack  on  both  sides,  commenced  at  the  same  time  ;  the  land  army 
met,  as  far  as  it  went,  with  a  very  gallant  resistance,  though  it  be- 
haved, on  its  part,  with  equal  gallantry  ;  and  Mr.  Macarnb  must, 
in  all  probability,  have  yielded,  in  time,  to  a  force  so  greatly  su- 
perior, if  the  attack  by  water  had  not  been  frustrated.  But  on  the 
water  side,  the  republican  Commodore  Macdonough.  though  his 
force  was  inferior  to  ours,  and  has  been  so  stated  in  Ihe  official 
despatch  of  Sir  George  Prevost  himself,  not  only  defeated  our 
fleet,  but  captured  the  wliole  of  the  ships,  one  of  which  was  of 
36  guns,  while  the  largest  of  the  republican  ships  was  of  no  more 
than  26  guns !  The  governor  general,  seeing  the  fate  of  the  fleet, 
knowing  that  the  taking  of  the  fort  after  that  would  only  lead  to  a 
speedy  retreat  from  it,  and  fearing  the  consequences  of  an  attack 
on  his  way  back  to  Canada,  raised  the  siege,  and  hastened  back 
towards  Montreal  with  all  imaginable  speed,  pursued  by  the  little 
republican  army,  and  leaving  behind  him,  as  the  republicans  state, 
immense  quantities  of  stores,  ammunition,  £c.  beside  great  num- 
bers of  prisoners  and  deserters.  They  may  have  exaggerated 
in  these  their  accounts,  but  the  Canada  newspapers  stated  that 
150  of  our  men  deserted  ;  and,  which  is  a  thing  never  to  be  forgot- 
ten, our  ministers  have  never  published  in  the  Gazette  Sir  George 
Prevost's  account  of  his  memorable  retreat,  though  they  have 
published  his  despatches  relating  to  all  the  movements  of  the  army 
before  and  after  that  retreat. 

This  blow  did,  in  fact,  decide  the  question  of  war,  or  peace. 
There  was  much  blustering  about  it  here  ;  it  was  affected  to  treat 
the  thing  lightly ;  the  Times,  and  other  venal  newspapers,  re- 
presented it  as  a  mere  trifling  occurrence,  which  would  soon  be 
overbalanced  by  sweeping  victories  on  our  part.  But  upon  the 
back-  of  this  came  the  brilliant  success  of  the  Republicans  in  re- 
pulsing our  squadron,  and  burning  one  of  our  ships  before  Fort 


Litters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  385 

Mobile,  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico;  and  thus,  while  we  had  to 
vaunt  of  our  predatory  adventures  against  the  city  of  Washing- 
ton, the  town  of  Alexandria,  and  the  villages  of  Frenchtown  and 
Stonington,  the  fame  of  the  Republican  arms,  by  land  as  well  as 
sea,  sounded  in  every  ear,  and  glowed  in  every  heart,  along  the 
whole  extent  of  the  sixteen  hundred  miles  which  lie  between 
Canada  and  the  Mexican  Gulf. 

In  Europe  these  events  produced  a  prodigious  sensation. 
Those  who  wished  to  see  a  check  given  to  the  all-predominant 
naval  power  of  England,  rejoiced  at  them  ;  and  every  where 
they  excited  and  called  forth  admiration  of  the  Republicans. 
There  had  been,  during  the  struggle  on  the  Continent,  no  leisure 
to  contemplate  the  transatlantic  contest ;  Uut  it  now  became  an 
object  of  universal  attention;  and  Europe,  so  long  accustomed  to 
regard  English  naval  invincibility,  when  the  force  on  both  sides 
was  equal,  or  nearly  equal,  as  a  thing  received  and  uni\ersallj 
admitted,  was  surprised  beyond  expression  at  the  undeniable 
proof  of  the  contrary.  The  world  was  now  called  on  to  witness 
the  combat  between  England  and  America  single  handed.  The 
former  was  at  the  summit  of  power  and  glory  ;  she  had  captured 
or  destroyed  almost  all  the  naval  force  in  Europe ;  those  powers 
who  had  any  naval  force  left  were  her  allies,  and  were  receiving 
subsidies  from  her  ;  she  had  an  army  of  regulars  of  200,000  men, 
flushed  with  victory  ;  she  had  just  inarched  part  of  this  army 
through  the  heart  of  France  herself;  she  had  a  thousand  ships 
of  war  afloat,  commanded  by  men  who  never  dreamt  of  defeat. 
This  was  the  power  that  now  waged  war,  single  handed,  against 
the  only  republic,  the  only  commonwealth,  remaining  in  the 
world.  The  friends  of  freedom,  who  were  not  well  acquainted 
with  America,  had  been  trembling  for  her.  They  did  not  seem 
to  entertain  any  hopes  of  her  escape.  They  thought  it  scarcely 
possible,  that  she  should,  with  her  democratical  government,  and 
her  handful  of  an  army,  without  officers,  and  .without  stores,  re- 
sist England  even  for  a  year  single  handed  ;  and  they  saw  no 
power  able,  if  willing,  or  willing,  if  able,  to  lenc}  the  republic  the 
smallest  degree  of  assistance. 

But  when  the  battles  of  Lake  Champlain  were  announced  ;  and 
when  it  was  seen  by  the  president's  message  to  his  fellow  citizens 
of  the  congress,  that  the  republican  government  marched  on  with 
ajirm  step,  and  had  resolved  not  to  yield  one  single  point  to  our 
menaces,  or  our  attacks,  a  very  different  view  of  the  contest 
arose.  The  English  nation,  which  had  been  exulting  in  the  idea 
ef  giving  the  Yankeya  "  a  drubbing,"  began  to  think,  that  the 
undertaking  was  not  so  very  easy  to  execute ;  and  seeing  no 
prospect  of  an  end  to  the  war  and  its  expenses,  they  began  to 
cry  out  for  the  abolition  of  the  greatest  of  those  taxes,  the  ex- 
istence of  which  depended  on  the  duration  of  the  war. 

49 


300  Letters  of  William  Cobbeit,  Esq. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  ministers,  previous  to  their  knowledge  of 
Jhe  battles  of  Chippewa,  Fort  Erie,  Plaltsburgh,  Lake  Champlain, 
and  Fort  Mobile,  had  pot  forward,  at  Ghent,  very  high  preten- 
sions. They  had  proposed,  as  a  SINE  QUA  NON,  the  ex- 
pulsion of  the  republicans  from  a  considerable  portion  of  their 
territory,  in  behalf  of  the  savages  in  alliance  with  us  ;  they  had 
demanded,  though  not  as  a  sine  qua  non,  the  surrender  of  the 
Lakes  to  our  King,  even  with  the  prohibition  to  the  Americans  to 
erect  fortifications  on  the  borders  which  would  remain  to  them  ; 
they  had  demanded  a  line  of  communication  between  Quebec  and 
our  territories  east  of  fhe  Penobscot,  through  the  territories  of 
the  Republic.  The  American  negotiators  declined  any  dis- 
cussion of  these  conditions,  until  they  should  receive  instructions 
from  their  government  ;  alleging,  and  very  justly,  that  ibis  was 
the  first  time  that  any  such  grounds  of  war,  or  dispute,  had  been 
mentioned  by  us. 

These  demands  having  been  transmitted  to  the  president,  he, 
instead  of  listening  to  them,  laid  them  before  the  congress,  with 
an  expression  of  his  indignation  at  them;  and  in  this  feeling  he 
appeared  only  to  have  anticipated  his  fellow  citizens  throughout 
the  country,  with  the  exception  of  a  handful  of  aristocratical  in- 
triguers in  the  state  of  Massachusetts.  New  and  vigorous 
measures  were  adopted  for  prosecuting  the  war.  The  congress 
hastened  on  bilis  for  raising  and  paying  soldiers  and  sailors  ;  for 
making  the  militia  more  efficient;  for  expediling  the  building  of 
ships  ;  erecting  fortifications ;  providing  floating  batteries.  In 
short,  it  was  now  clearly  seen,  that  the  government  of  the  re- 
public was  equal  to  a  time  of  war  as  well  as  to  a  time  ot  peace ;  that 
we  had  to  carry  on  a  contest,  at  3,000  miles  distance,  against  a 
brave,  free,  and  great  nation  ;  and  that  the  aristocratical  faction, 
on  whom  some  men  had  depended  for  aid,  were  sneaking  off  into 
pitiful  subterfuges,  afraid  any  tonger  to  show  a  hankering  after  our 
cause. 

In  this  state  of  things  ;  with  this  prospect  before  them,  the 
ministers  wisely  resolved  to  abandon  their  demands,  and  to  make 
peace,  leaving  things  as  they  stood  before  the  war.  The  oppo- 
sition, who  had  pledged  themselves  to  the  support  of  the  war 
upon  the  old  ground,  that  is  to  say,  upon  the  ground  of  impress- 
men^  began  to  protest  against  it  upon  the  ground  of  conquest  ; 
and  if  the  war  had  continued,  there  is  no  doubt  that  they  would 
have  greatly  embarrassed  the  ministry  upon  this  subject,  espe- 
cially as  the  continuation  of  the  war  was  the  only  remaining  ex- 
cuse for  the  continuation  of  the  mar  faxes,  against  which  petitions 
tvere  preparing  in  every  part  of  the  kingdom.  Here  we  cannot 
help  observing  how  wise  it  was  in  Mr.  Madison  to  make  public 
our  demands.  If  these  had  been  kept  secret  till  after  the  close 
of  the  war,  how  long  might  not  that  \var  have  drawled  on  ?  The 


Letters  of  William  Cobbeit,  Esq.  387 

viemands  would  never,  perhaps,  have  been  known.  How  wise  is 
it,  then,  in  the  Americans  to  have  framed  their  government  in  such 
a  way  as  to  prevent  mischievous  state  secrets  from  existing! 
How  wise  to  have  made  all  their  rulers  really  responsible  for 
their  acts!  How  wise  to  secure,  upon  all  important  points,  an  ap- 
peal to  themselves!  The  President  was  very  coarsely  treated 
here  by  some  persons,  who  ought  to  have  known  better,  fo^  hav- 
ing exposed  the  conferences.  It  was  said  to  be  an  act  unprecedented 
in  a  civilised  nation.  "  Civilized  nations^  you  will  perceive, 
mean  nations  governed  by  kings  and  other  hereditary  sovereigns; 
and,  in  that  sense,  the  Americans  certainly  are  not  a  civilized 
nation.  But  wky  should  such  papers  be  kept  secret?  Or,  at 
least,  why  should  they  not  be  made  public,  if  the  government 
chooses  to  make  them  public  ?  When  once  a  government  has 
tlespatches  in  its  hands,  there  is  no  law  that  deprives  it  of  the 
liberty  fo  make  what  use  of  them  it  pleases.  Nothing  could  be 
more  fair  than  Mr.  Madison's  mode  of  proceeding.  The  aris- 
tocrafical  faction,  whom  we  called  our  friends,  were  crying  out 
for  peace;  the  whole  of  the  American  people  were  represented, 
in  our  newspapers,  as  disapproving  of  the  war,  and  as  wishing  for 
peaco  on  our  terms.  What,  then,  could  Mr.  Madison  do  more 
just  and  more  candid  than  publish  to  the  people  the  whole  of 
those  terms  ?  "  There  they  are,"  said  he,  "  decide  upon  them. 
Say,  will  you  have  peace  upon  these  terms  ?  I  am,  myself,  ready 
to  perish,  rather  than  make  such  a  peace.  Now,  let  me  hear 
what  you  have  to  say.'*  A  nation  of  free  aien  agreed  with  him, 
that  they  would  perish  rather  than  yield  to  such  terms  ;  and,  in- 
deed, rather  than  yield  to  us  "  one  single  point,"  though  of  ever 
so  little  importance.  The  result  has  been,  that  peace  has  been 
made,  and  not  one  single  point  has  been  yielded  to  us. 

We  now  come  to  the  most  important  and  most  interesting  part 
of  our  subject  j  namely,  THE  CONSEQUENCES  of  this 
peace,  made  at  such  a  time,  and  under  such  circumstances.  Con- 
sidered as  to  its  probable  and  almost  necessary  consequences,  it  is, 
in  my  opinion,  an  event  of  infinitely  greater  importance  to  the 
world  than  any  that  has  taken  place  since  the  discovery  of  the 
Art  of  Printing.  But  I  will  not  enter  further  into  the  subject,  till 
i  have  laid  before  you,  or,  rather,  put  upon  record,  for  the  sake 
of  reference,  some  of  the  overflowings  of  gall,  which  this  event 
has  brougut  from  the  throats  of  the  sworn  enemies  of  freedom. 
You  have  observed,  that  those  public  prints  in  England,  which 
were  the  most  bitter  against  Napoleon,  have  been  also  the  most 
bitter  against  the  American  president  ;  a  fact  which  ought  to  make 
people  reflect  a  little  before  they  give  way  to  such  outrageous 
abuse  of  the  former,  though  me  must  always  regard  him  as  a  trai- 
tor to  the  cause  ofliberty,  having  married  a  king's  daughter,  made 
himself  an  emperor,  and  propped  up  and  created  kings,  for  the 


388  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

sake  of  his  and  his  family's  aggrandizement.  Still,  it  is  clear, 
that  the  writers,  whom  I  have  now  in  my  eye,  thought  him  more, 
favourable  to  freedom  than  those  mho  have  succeeded  him  ;  be- 
cause, no  sooner  was  he  down,  than  they  set  upon  the  American 
president  with  the  same  degree  of  fury  with  which  they  had  at- 
tacked Napoleon  ;  and  they  recommended  the  deposing  of  him, 
upon  •"  the  same  principle,"  they  said,  that  they  had  recommend- 
ed the  deposing  of  Napoleon.  You  will  not  fail  to  have  observ- 
ed tin's,  and  to  have  traced  it  to  its  true  source ;  but  I  am  afraid 
that  it  has  passed  unobserved  by  but  too  large  a  portion  of  the 
nation. 

There  are  several  of  our  public  prints,  indeed,  a  very  great 
majority  of  them,  in  country  as  well  as  in  town,  which  have 
urged  the  justice  and  necessity  of  extinguishing  the  American 
government;  that  ll  ill-organised  association  ;"  that  "mischie- 
vous example  of  the  existence  of  a  government,  founded  on  de- 
ynocratical  rebellion."  This  peal  was  rung  from  one  end  of  the 
country  to  the  other.  But  the  print,  which  led  the  van  in  this 
new  crusade  against  liberty,  was  that  vile  newspaper,  the  Times,  to 
which  paper  we  and  the  world  owe  no  small  portion  of  those  con- 
sequences which  will  result  from  the  peace  of  Ghent,  followed 
by  such  a  war.  This  print  was,  upon  this  occasion,  the  trumpet 
of  all  the  haters  of  freedom;  all  those  who  look  with  Satanic  eyes 
on  the  happiness  of  the  free  people  of  America;  all  those  who 
have  been  hatched  in,  and  yet  are  kept  alive  by,  bribery  and 
corruption.  To  judge  of  the  feelings  excited  in  the  bosoms  of 
this  malignant  swarm  by  the  peace  of  Ghent ;  to  enjoy  the  spec- 
tacle of  their  disappointment  and  mortification;  of  their  alternate 
rage  and  despondency  ;  of  the  hell  that  burns  in  their  bosoms : 
to  enjoy  this  spectacle,  a  spectacle  which  we  ought  to  enjoy,  af- 
ter having  endured  the  insolence  of  their  triumph  for  so  many 
years  ;  to  enjoy  this  spectacle  we  must  again  look  into  this  same 
print ;  hear  their  wailing,  view  the  gnashing  of  their  teeth,  see 
now  the  foam  of  revenge,  and  then  the  drivel  of  despair,  issue 
from  their  mouths,  teeming  with  execrations.  With  the  help  of 
the  ministers,  we  have,  for  once,  beat  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  corruption ;  and  if  we  bear  our  success  with  moderation,  let 
us,  at  any  rate,  hear  and  laugh  at  the  cries  of  our  always  cruel, 
and,  until  now,  insolent  enemy.  It  is  right,  too,  that  the  repub- 
licans themselves  should  know  what  these  wretches  now  have  to 
say  ;  these  wretches,  whom  nothing  would  satisfy  short  of  the 
subversion  of  the  republican  government ;  short  of  destroying 
that  "  mischievous  example,  the  existence  of  a  government, 
founded  on  democratical  rebellion."  As  far  as  I  have  been  able 
to  do  it  openly  through  the  press,  I  have,  during  the  war,  as 
you  will  have  perceived,  made  known  the  denunciations  of  these 
wretches  against  the  liberties  of  America  ;  and  it  may  not  be  less 


Letters  of  William  Coubett,  Esq.  389 

useful  to  make  known  their  wailings,  their  fears,  their  despair  at 
the  peace  ;  and  the  republicans  of  America  ought  always  lo  bear 
in  mind,  that  these  same  wretches,  who  are  ready  to  gnaw  their 
own  flesh  at  seeing  their  hopes  of  destroying  liberty  in  America 
blasted  ;  they  ought  always  to  bear  in  mind,  that  these  same 
wretches  it  was,  who  praised,  and  who  still  prarse,  the  conduct 
of  Governor  Strong,  Mr.  Otis,  Mr.  Pickering,  Mr.  Goodloe 
Harper,  Mr.  Walsh  the  reviewer,  and  their  associates.  The 
FEDERALISTS,  too,  amongst  whom  there  are  many  worthy  men, 
look  steadily  at  these  facts  ;  and  consider  how  it  must  stand  with 
their  reputation,  when  it  is  notorious,  that  all  those  in  England 
who  praise,  or  give  the  preference  to  them,  have  been  using  their 
utmost  endeavours  to  urge  this  nation  on  to  fight  against  America, 
until  they  saw  "  the  world  delivered  of  the  mischicvovs  exam- 
ple of  the  existence  of  a  government,  founded  on  the  principles 
of  democratical  rebellion^'  It  is  for  the  worthy  part  of  the 
FKDEHALISTS  to  consider  if  these  notorious  facts  square  with 
their  reputation,  whether  as  republicans,  as  freemen,  as  faithful 
to  their  country,  or,  even,  as  honest  men.  As  to  the  Strongs, 
the  Otises,  the  Goodloe  Harpers,  the  Walshes,  they  have,  in 
this  way,  nothing  to  lose.  Every  sound  mind  is  made  up  with 
regard  to  them,  and  others  like  them  ;  but,  I  should  think,  that 
the  praises  of  the  Times  newspaper  must  make  the  great  body  of 
the  federalists  look  about  them. 

We  will  now  reperuse  the  articles,  to  which  I  have  so  often 
alluded.  I  will  insert  them,  without  interruption,  one  after  ano- 
ther, according  to  their  dates,  reserving  my  remarks,  if  any 
should  be  necessary,  for  the  close ;  and  requesting  you  to  pay 
particular  attention  to  the  passages  printed  in  Italics,  or  in 
CAPITALS. 

29th  Dec.  1814. — "  Without  entering  at  present  into  the  details 
of  the  treaty,  (on  which  we  have  much  to  observe  hereafter,)  we 
confess  that  we  look  anxiously  to  its  non  ratification  ;  because  we 
hope  an  opportunity  will  be  afforded  to  our  brave  seamen  to  retire 
from  the  contest,  not,  as  they  non  are,  beaten  and  disgraced; 
not  with  the  loss  of  that  trident)  which  Nelson,  when  dying, 
placed  in  his  country's  grasp ;  not  leaving  the  marine  laurel  on 
the  unworthy  brows  of  a  Kodgers  ;  but  with  an  ample  and  full 
revenge,  for  the  captures  of  the  Guerriere,  the  Macedonian,  the 
Java,  and  the  numerous  other  ships  that  have  been  surrendered 
on  the  ocean,  besides  the  whole  flotillas  destroyed  on  lake  Erie 
and  lake  Champlain.  Let  us  not  deceive  ourselves.  These 
victories  have  given  birth  to  a  spirit,  which,  if  not  checked,  will, 
in  a  few  years,  create  an  American  navy  truly  formidable. 
They  have  excited  in  other  nations,  who  foolishly  envy  our  ma- 
ritime preponderance,  an  undisstmbled  joy,  at  beholding  our 
course  so  powerfully  arrested.  Perhaps  it  would  not  be  asserting 


390  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Es<j. 

too  much,  to  say,  that  they  have  detracted  as  much  from  the 
opinion  of  our  strength  by  sea,  as  the  victories  of  Wellington 
have  enh  'need  that  of  our  strength  by  land." 

tfOf/i  Dec.  lUi4. — "  The  slate  of  the  funds  may  be  said  to  af- 
ford a  most  striking  comment  on  the  text  of  those  who  have  the 
front  to  call  the  treaty  of  Ghent  '  honourable'  to  this  country. 
What  ?  An  honourable  peace  with  the  last  of  our  adversaries, 
with  a  populous  and  commercial  nation,  and  yet  a  depression  in 
the  public  funds !  The  thing  is  impossible.  There  is  a  moral 
inconsistency  in  the  facts.  But  the  truth,  unhappily,  peeps  out 
in  the  course  of  the  eulogy  bestowed  on  this  famous  specimen  of 
diplomatic  ingenuity.  The  peace  is,  like  that  of  Amiens,  a 
peace  of  necessity;  and  upon  what  grounds?  'A  leaning  to 
certain  points,'  it  seems,  has  been  '  hinted'  at  the  congress  of 
Vienna.  Now,  let  us  put  this  mysterious  language  into  plain 
English.  It  can  bear  no  other  construction  than  this,  that  Rus- 
sia, or  Austria,  or  Prussia,  has  avowed  an  inclination  to"  support 
the  innovations  on  public  law,  which  Mr.  3Iadison  asserts. 
Might  not  this  have  been  foretold  ?  Was  it  not  foretold  in  this 
paper  above  six  months  ago  ?  Was  it  not  the  very  argument  we 
urged,  for  pushing  the  war  in  America  with  the  utmost  vigour, 
whilst  yet  the  field  was  open,  and  our  adversary  without  allies  ? 
And  is  it  not  a  motive  for  the  same  conduct,  even  at  this  late 
period  ?  If  any  of  the  powers  who  have  received  our  subsidies, 
or  have  been  rescued  from  destruction  by  our  courage  and  exam- 
ple, have  had  the  baseness  to  turn  against  us  ;  it  is  morally  cer- 
tain, that  the  treaty  of  Ghent  will  confirm  them  in  their  resolu- 
tion. They  will  reflect  that  we  have  attempted  to  force  our  prin- 
ciples on  America,  and  have  failed.  Nav,  that  we  have  retired 
from  the  combat  with  the  stripes  yet  bleding  on  our  backs ; 
with  the  recent  defeats  at  Pittsburgh,  and  on  lake  Champlain 
unavenged.  To  make  peace  at  such  a  moment,  they  will  think, 
betrays  a  deadrie«s  to  the  feelings  of  honour,  and  shows  a  timidity 
of  disposition,  inviting  further  insult.  IF  we  could  have  pointed 
to  America  overthrown,  we  should  surely  have  stood  on  much 
higher  ground  at  Vienna,  and  everywhere  else,  than  we  possibly 
can  do  now.  Even  yet,  however,  IF  we  could  but  close  the 
war  with  some  great  naval  triumph,  the  reputation  of  our  mari- 
time greatness  might  be  partially  restored ;  but  to  say,  that  it 
has  net  hitherto  suffered  in  the  estimation  of  all  Europe,  and, 
what  is  worse,  of  America  herself,  is  to  belie  common  sense  and 
universal  experience.  '  Two  or  three  of  our  ships  have  struck  to 
a  force  vastly  superior !'  No,  not  two  or  three,  but  many,  on 
the  ocean,  and  whole  sqvtdrons  on  the  lakes :  and  their  numbers 
are  to  be  viewed  wilh  relation  to  the  comparative  magnitude  of  the 
two  n  vies.  Scarcely  is  there  one  American  ship  of  war  which 
lias  not  to  boast  a  victory  over  the  British  flag ;  scarcely  ont 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  391 

British  ship  in  thirty  or  forty,  that  has  beaten  an  American. 
Our  seamen,  it  is  urged,  have,  on  all  occasions,  fought  bravely. 
Who  denies  it?     Our  complaint  is, that  with  the  bravest  seamen, 
and  the  most   powerful    navy    in  the  world,  we  retire  from  the 
contest  w»>en  the  balance  of  defeat  is  so  heavily  against  us.     Be 
it  accident,  or  be   it   misconduct,  we   inquire  not  now  into   the 
cause ;  the  certain,  the  inevitable  consequences  are  what  we  look 
to,  and  these  may  be  summed  up  in  a  few  words  :  the  speedy 
growth  of  an  American  navy,  and  the  recurrence  of  a  new  and 
much  more  formidable  American  war.     From  that  fatal  moment 
when  the  flag  of  the  Guerriere  was  struck,  there  has  been  quite 
a  rage  for  building  ships  of  war  in  the  United  States.     Their  na- 
vy has  been  nearly  doubled,  and  their  vessels  are  of  extraordi- 
nary magnitude.     The  people,  naturally  vain,  boastful,  and  inso- 
lent, have  been  filled  with  an  absolute  contempt  of  our  maritime 
power,  and  a  furious  eagerness  to  beat  down  our  maritime  preten- 
sions.    Those  passions,  which  have   been  inflamed   by  success, 
could  only  have  been  cooled  by  what,  in  vulgar,  but  emphatic  lan- 
guage, has  been  termed    '  a  sound  flogging  ;'  but,  unfortunately, 
our  Christian  meekness  has  induced  us    rather  to    kiss  the  rod, 
than  to  retaliate  its  exercise.     Such  false  and  feeble  humanity  is 
not  calculated   for   the  guidance  of  nations.     War  is,  indeed,  a 
tremendous  engine  of  justice  ;  but  when  justice  wields  the  sword, 
she  must  be  inflexible.     Looking  neither  to  the  right  nor  to  the 
Jeft,  she  must  pursue  her  blow,  until  the  evil  is  clean  rooted  out. 
This  is  not  blind   rage,  or  blinder    revenge;  but  it  is  a  discrimi- 
nating, a  calm,  and  even  a   lender  calculation  of  consequences. 
Better  is  it,  that  we  should  grapple  with  the  young  lion,  when 
he  is  first  fleshed  with  the  taste  of  our  flocks,  than  wait  until,  in 
the  maturity  of  his  strength,  he  bears  away  at  once  both  sheep 
and  shepherd.     The  Chatham,  of  74  guns,  (built  in  memory  of 
the  Walcheren  expedition,)  is  ordered  to  be  manned,  and  will,  it 
is  supposed,  be  sent  to  America,  to  strengthen  the  preparation* 
for  that  extended  system  of  warfare,  which  must  take  place  if  the 
president  should  delay  the  ratification  of  the  treaty.     We  are  well 
convinced,  that  every  ship,  and  every  soldier,  employed  in  main- 
taining the  vital  contest  for  our  maritime  ascendency,  far  from  di- 
minishing, will  add  a  proportional  weight  to  our  influence  st  Vi- 
enna ;  but  in,  truth,  Vienna,  and  all  its  fetes,  and  all  its  negotia- 
tions, are  infinitely  insignificant  to  us  NOW,  compared  with 
the  grow//*  of  an  American  navy,  and  the  probable  loss  of  our 
transatlantic  provinces. v 

2d  January,  1815.—"  The  year  which  is  just  concluded  will 
rank  among  the  most  remarkable  in  history.  It  has  seen  the 
downfal  of  the  most  formidable  despotism  that  ever  threatened 
the  security  of  the  civilized  world.  It  has  witnessed  the  resto- 
ration of  a  PATERNAL  GOVERNMENT  to  the  country 


392  Letters  of  William  Cobbed,  Esq. 

which  had  for  five-and-twenty  years  passed  through  the  greatest 
variety  of  afflicting  revolutions.  It  has  beheld  all  the  sovereigns 
of  Europe  assembled  personally,  or  by  their  representatives,  in 
peace,  to  lay  the  foundations  of  permanent  tranquillity,  and  to  con- 
struct anew  the  social  edifice,  by  the  proportions  of  equity  and 
moderation.  ONE  WORTHLESS,  FAITHLESS  HORDE 
ALONE  PERSEVERED  in  those  atrocious  plans,  which  they 
had  undertaken,  in  concert  rvilk  the  fallen  despot,  for  their  own 
selfish  aggrandisement.  Punishment  hung  over  the  guilty  heads 
of  these  men,  bankruptcy  had  swallowed  up  their  resources,  de- 
spair stared  them  in  the  face.  It  was  hoped  'that  some  signal 
instance  of  vengeance  would  have  been  hurled  against  them,'  and 
that  the  year  would  have  closed  with  the  triumph  of  justice  and 
of  Britain  ALAS!  We  have  been  compelled  to  witness  not 
only  the  frustration  of  this  hope,  but  the  elevation  of  our  calumni- 
ators and  assassins  to  the  height  of  insolent  exultation,  on  the 
ruins  of  our  maritime  greatness.  THE  NAVY  OF  BRI- 
TAIN IS  DISGRACED  FOR  EVER:  and,  oh!  shame!  ihe 
fame  of  the  immortal  Nelson  is  eclipsed  by  the  vaunts  of  the  vul- 
gar braggart  Rodgers.  A  Sunday  paper  asserts,  that  the  ratifica- 
tion of  the  degrading  treaty  of  Ghent,  by  an  ilhintrioii.'  personage, 

was  a  duty  MOST  RELUCTANTLY  PERFORMED. 

We  doubt  it  not.  The  truly  English  feelings  which  prompted  so 
zealous  an  adherence  to  the  cause  of  patriotism  in  Spain,  and  to 
that  of  loyalty  in  France,  must  have  been  tortured  beyond  the 
power  of  words  to  express,  by  'he  fatal  necessity  (if  necessity  it 
was)  which  compelled  the  signing  away  the  honour  and  future 
safety  of  THIS  ONCE  NOBLE  COUNTRY  !  May  the  pre- 
sent year  elapse  without  producing  a  confirmation  of  our  sad 
forebodings !  Our  firmest  hope  lies,  in  the  present  instance,  as  it 
did  during  the  negotiations  of  Chatillon,  in  the  arrogant  insanity 
of  our  adversary.  In  mulish  obstinacy,  Mr.  MADISON  is  not  a 
whit  behind  his  great  ally.  In  vanity  and  self-confidence,  the 
FISKS,  and  CLAYS,  and  SMILIES,  and  WRIGHTS  of  the  congress 
cannot  be  overmatched.  It  is,  therefore,  the  firm  persuasion  of 
those  who  best  understand  American  politics,  that  the  treaty  will 
not  be  ratified.  For  this  event,  we  repeat,  government  ought  to 
be  fully  prepared.  The  nation,  too,  ought  to  be  satisfied,  that  a 
powerful  army,  and  a  general  of  the  highest  reputation,  are  ready 
on  the  spot,  either  to  compel  the  enemy  to  ratify  the  treaty,  or  to 
punish  its  non  ratification.  The  officers  of  the  class  just  specified 
have,  moreover,  a  right  to  have  their  characters  placed  in  a  fair 
light  before  their  countrymen  ;  for  in  all  companies,  for  some  time 
past,  have  been  heard  murmurs,  not  loud  but  deep,  at  their  appa- 
rent backwardness  to  appear  in  the  field,  where  their  services  have 
been,  and  still  are  so  much  needed.  If,  contrary  to  our  hopes  and 
expectations,  the  treaty  should  be  ratified,  the  consequences  are 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  393 

easy  of  development.  The  Americans,  vain  of  what  they  will 
consider  as  their  demonstrated  superiority  over  us  by  land  and 
sea,  will  dream  only  of  more  audacious  pretensions,  and  new  plans 
of  conquest.  Their  regular  army  will  be  augmented,  and  placed 
on  the  Canadian  frontier.  Their  heavy  metalled  ships,  and  new 
steam  batteries,  will  be  multiplied  with  the  utmost  celerity.  Their 
intrigues  to  stir  up  rebellion  in  Canada  will  be  redoubled,  and. 
unhappily,  with  a  far  greater  chance  than  ever  of  success,  inasmuch 
as  the  Canadians  will  be  but  too  apt  to  conceive  their  interests 
sacrificed  bv  the  present  treat v.  All  this  while  WE  SHALL 
BE  BOUND  OVER  TO  OUR  GOOD  BBHAV1OUR  IN 
EUROPE;  for  the  moment  we  embark  in  war  here,  the  redoubt- 
able Captain  POKTKR  will  again  hoist  the  flag  of  FREE  TRADE 
AND  SAILORS'  RIGHTS,  and  this  will  furnish  at  once  a  pre- 
tence and  a  signal  for  driving  the  hated  English  from  Canada. 
How  long  the  West-Indies  will  remain  to  us,  after  the  toss  of  our 
North- American  provinces,  we  leave  to  (lie  sagacious  calculations 
of  those  who  can  contrive  a  cheap  and  easy  method  of  supplying 
our  islands  with  flour,  staves,  and  lumber,  from  other  quarters  ;  or 
who  will  secure  to  us  the  Newfoundland  fishery,  when  we  are  ex- 
pelled from  the  whole  American  continent.  Little  has  been  added 
to  what  the  public  already  know  of  the  treaty.  Indeed,  we  have 
been  assured;  that  what  was  circulated  as  the  first  alight  sketch  of 
its  contents,  gave  rather  too  favourable  an  idea  of  it  in  two  very 
material  points,  the  Newfoundland  fisheries,  and  the  East-India 
trade.  It  was  generally  understood,  we  believe,  that  the  Ameri- 
cans were  specifically  excluded  both  from  the  one  and  the  other 
of  these  advantages ;  but  the  truth  is,  (says  our  informant,)  "  that 
neither  of  these  points  is  mentioned  in  this  impolitic  treaty." 

1th  Jan.  1815. — "  Our  correspondent  (at  Paris)  states,  that  since 
fbe  unexpected  news  from  Ghent,  the  Americans  at  Paris  have 
been  every  where  TREATED  WITH  THE  MOST  MARK- 
ED RESPECT.  They  have,  in  general,  assumed,  at  all  pub- 
lie  places,  their  national  cockade,  both  as  a  means  of  attracting  to 
themselves  those  attentions,  and  also  to  prevent  their  being  mista- 
ken for  English,  and  exposed  as  such  to  the  affronts  which  of  late 
have  been  openly  shown  to  our  countrymen." 

Thus  have  we  before  us  the  wailings  of  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  corruption.  There  is,  you  perceive,  one  reigning  fallacy  in  all 
these  attacks  on  the  peace  ;  that  is,  it  is  all  along  presumed,  and  taken 
for  granted,  that  our  situation,  with  regard  to  America,  would  have 
become  every  day  better  and  better,  if  the  war  had  been  continued. 
Now,  so  far  from  this  being  any  thing  like  certain,  it  was  uot  even 
probable,  and  was  barely  possible.  The  chances  were  all  on  the 
other  side;  the  republicans  had  not  only  resisted,  but  had  repulsed, 
the  onset ;  they  had  followed  up  their  blows  with  astonishing 
rapidity ;  and  even  at  the  moment  when  the  conclusion  of  thfc 

50 


394  Letters  of  William  Cobbdt,  Key. 

peace  was  announced,  intelligence  came  to  hand  that  they  had 
just  driven  our  army  and  fleet  from  Pensacola,  a  main  hold,  whence 
our  next  attack  was  intended  to  have  been  made. 

"  IF,"  says  this  trumpet  of  corruption,  "  our  navy  had  struck 
some  great  blow  ;  IF  we  had  done"  this,  and  done  that,  and 
done  Ike  olfier,  then  we  might  have  made  peace.  But  IF  we  could 
do  none  of  these;  IF  we  had  failed  in  all  our  attempts;  IF  we 
had  lost  still  more  frigates  and  fleets*,  what  would  THEN  have 
been  our  situation  ?  The  malignant  wretches  are  senseless  with 
rage.  They  are  savage  at  the  loss  of  their  prey.  You,  who  are 
an  old  hunter  of  wild  beasts,  may  have  seen  something  in  the  con- 
duct of  disappointed  bears  or  wolves  resembling  that  of  these 
foes  of  freedom,  who  are  now  looking  towards  America,  foaming 
with  ra^e  and  roaring  for  revenge. 

It  is  impossible  not  to  feel  great  satisfaction  at  seeing  the  mur- 
derous wishes  of  these  men  disappointed.  But  our  satisfaction 
ought  by  no  means  to  rest  here.  The  great  question  with  regard 
to  the  excellence  of  really  free  government  has  now  been  decided 
in  a  way  that  must  inevitably  produce  conviction  throughout  the 
whole  world.  The  fate  of  the  republic  of  France  had  excited 
great  doubts  in  the  minds  of  men  disposed  to  cherish  liberty,  as 
to  the  capability  of  that  sort  of  government  to  be  carried  on  in 
practice  for  any  length  of  time,  especially  if  it  had  to  contend  with 
the  difficulties  and  dangers  of  war.  The  enemies  of  liberty  de- 
lighted in  representing  real  freedom  as  incompatible  with  national 
defence  and  independence.  When  reminded  of  the  government 
of  America,  they  smiled,  and  observed,  that  it  might  do  very  well 
as  long  as  America  remained  at  peace;  but  that  her  first  year  of 
war  would  crumble  it  into  dust,  and  expose  to  the  mockery  of  the 
\roi -' J  the  vain  theorists  who  had  extolled  it.  In  short,  this  was 
the  point  always  laboured  at : — That  for  a  nation  to  be  able  to  de- 
fend itself  in  time  of  war  against  a  formidable  enemy,  it  mtist 
have  an  almost  despotic  government,  and  a  standing  army,  with 
all  their  retinue. 

How  sincerely  will  you,  who  have  so  long,  so  zealously,  and  so 
ably  maintained  the  contrary,  rejoice  to  see  that  this  position,  so 
degrading  to  mankind,  has  now  been  fully  disproved !  You,  in 
yonr  excellent  publications,  and  Sir  Francis  Burdett,  in  his  speech- 
es, have  uniformly  insisted,  that  the  safe  defence,  and  the  only 
safe  defence,  of  a  nafion  against  a  formidable  enemy,  was  to  be 
found  in  the  arms  of  free  men  ;  that,  in  order  to  induce  a  people 
to  fight  in  defence  of  their  country,  they  must  feel  that  they  have 
something  tofigktfor;  that  the  strength  of  a  government,  in  the 
hour  of  real  danger,  consists  solely  of  the  attachment  of  lite  peo- 
ple ;  that  a  nation,  enjoying  real  freedom,  informed  by  a  press 
really  free,  and  all  having  a  voice  in  the  choice  of  their  represent- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  395 

tatioes,  never  yet  was,  and  never  would  be,  subdued  by  an  inva- 
ding enemy. 

The  rise,  progress,  and  result  of  the  American  wars  (I  mean 
both  of  them)  have  now  put  the  truth  of  these,  your  favourite  doc- 
trines, beyond  all  doubt.  Where  are  now  the  knaves  who  have 
so  long  scoffed  at  you  as  a  visionary,  and  who  have  had  the  pro- 
fligacy to  assert,  that  bribery  and  corruption  were  essential  to 
efficient  government  ?  Where  are  now  those  who  apprehended 
anarchy  from  universal  suffrage?  Where  ate  now  the  sticklers 
for  iiiftuence  and  virtual  representation.''  In  America  every  man 
who  pays  a  tax,  of  any  sort,  however  small,  has  a  vote.  lie  as- 
sists in  electing,  not  only  the  members  of  the  state  legislators, 
and  those  of  the  congress,  but  also  the  governors  of  the  states, 
and  the  president  himself.  No  man  has  any  authority,  no  man 
has  any  voice  in  making  laws,  who  has  not  himself  been  elected, 
and  in  the  election  of  whom  every  man  paying  a  tax  has  a  voice. 
Yet  the  world  NOW  SEES,  that  a  government  thus  formed, 
and  a  people  thus  governed,  are  n  match  for  the  most  formidable 
power  at  this  day  in  existence.  The  world  now  sees,  that  a  nation 
thus  governing  itself,  and  fully  sensible  of  its  freedom,  is  not  only 
active  in  its  defence,  but  is  capable  of  deeds  of  valour,  such  as 
were  never  before  recorded  by  the  pen  of  the  historian  of  any 
country  or  any  age.  Let  the  advocates  for  the  buying  and  sell- 
ing of  seats  do  away,  if  they  can,  the  effect  of  this  glorious 
example. 

The  writer,  whom  I  have  above  quoted,  and  who  was  so  anxious 
to  see  "  the  wbrld  delivered  of  the  mischievous  example"  of  the 
existence  of  the  American  government,  says,  that  our  navy  has 
been  defeated  j  that  it  has  been  beaten  upon  the  ocean  and  on 
the  lakes  ;  that  we  have  been  beaten  by  land  and  by  sea  ;  that 
we  have  been  disgraced  for  ever;  that  we  have  retired  from  the 
contest  with  the  stripes  on  our  backs;  that  we  have  had  the  tri- 
dent snatched  from  us  ;  that  we  are  scoffed  at  upon  the  continent 
of  Europe.  Now,  then,  if  this  be  true,  who  is  it  that  has  thus 
humbled  us  ?  What  mighty  potentate  has  been  able  to  accom- 
plish all  this  ?  It  is  a  republic  ;  a  nation  whose  chief  magistrate 
receives  only. about  6,000/.  a  year,  and  the  whole  of  whose  or- 
dinary revenue  does  not  amount  to  so  much  as  we,  in  England 
alone,  p?.y  for  collecting  our  taxes;  a  nation  without  a  standing 
army  ;  a  nation  with  a  press  through  which  any  man  may  publish 
any  thing  respecting  any  public  person  or  measure,  or  any  opi- 
nion on  the  subject  of  religion  >  a  nation  without  dukes,  or  lords, 
or  knights,  or  esquires  ;  and  without  any  distinction  of  rank  of 
any  sort  being  known  to  the  law  ;  a  nation  without  an  established 
church,  without  tythes,  or  any  compulsory  payment  to  the  priests 
of  any  worship;  a  nation  where  bribery  and  corruption  are  un- 
known ;  where  no  man  calls  another  man  <;  itwsirr  ;"  and  where 


396  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

a  handful  of  gold  would  not  purchase  from  the  labouring  man  tht 
pulling  off  his  hat  even  to  his  employers.     The  consequeitcesoS 
truths  so  striking,  and  now  so  notorious,  are  much  more  pleasing 
to  anticipate  than  they  would,  I  imagine,  be  safe  to  describe. 

There  are  some  who  pretend,  that  the  republic  has  gained 
nothing  by  the  war  ;  and  those  hireling  gentlemen,  who  write  in 
"  the  Quarterly  Review"  tell  their  readers,  that  she  has  made 
peace  **  without  accomplishing  any  one  of  the  objects  for  which 
she  went  to  war."  These  hired  critics  are  either  wholly  ignorant 
of  the  matter,  or  they  are  endeavouring  to  mislead  their  readers., 
At  any  rate,  I  will  once  more  state  the  case,  and  then  we  shall 
see  which  party  has  been  baffled  in  its  attempts. 

America  declared  war  against  our  King,  because  he  would  not 
cease  to  impress  persons  (not  being  soldiers  or  sailors  in  the 
enemy's  service)  from  on  hoard  her  ships  on  the  high  seas.  This 
was  the  ground  of  her  declaration  of  war.  A  treaty  of  peace  has 
been  made,  and  that  treaty  says  not  a  word  about  the  impressing 
of  persons  on  board  of  American  ships.  Therefore,  say  these 
wise  reviewers,  she  has  not  gained  her  object.  Poor  slaves  !  they 
dare  not  look  at  the  truth  ;  which  is  this  :  America  went  to  war 
with  us,  while  we  were  at  war  with  France,  and  while  America 
was  neutral.  Our  king  having  made  peace  with  the  French,  there 
ceased  to  be  any  pretext  for  impressment ;  and  that  being  the 
case,  America  was  willing  to  make  peace  immediately,  without 
any  stipulation  about  impressment,  because  the  war  in  Europe 
having  ceased,  her  character  of  neutral  would  have  ceased,  and 
our  impressments  would  also  have  ceased.  She  wanted  no  stipu- 
lation to  protect  her  against  what  she  always  asserted  to  be  a 
wrong,  and  which  wrong  she  had  resisted  by  arms,  until  it  ceased. 
Accordingly,  we  find  Mr.  Monroe  instructing  the  republican 
negotiators  not  to  bring  fortvatd  the  subject,  it  being  quite  un- 
necessary, seeing  that  America  had  resisted  our  pretended  right 
of  impressment  by  war,  and  would,  of  course,  resort  to  the  same 
mode  of  resistance,  if  the  execution  of  the  pretended  right 
should  be  revived.  You  will  observe,  too,  that  it  was  our  King's 
negotiators,  who  brought  forward  the  subject  at  Ghent.  There- 
fore, if  there  was  any  defeat  of  object  here,  the  defeat  was  on 
his  side.  We  went  to  war  to  assert  our  right  of  impressment. 
We  have  made  peace  without  obtaining  any  stipulation  with  re- 
gard to  that  right,  real  or  pretended.  If  we  revive  the  exercise 
of  this  right,  at  any  future  time,  Mr.  Monroe,  in  his  published 
despatches,  says,  that  America  is  ready  again  to  resist  it  by  force 
of  arms. 

The  disappointed,  malignant  man,  whom  I  have  so  largely 
quoted  above,  exclaims,  that  we  are  "  now  bound  to  our  good 
behaviour  in  Europe;1'  for,  that  the  moment  we  dare  to  go  to 
war,  we  shall  have  Capt.  Porter  sally  out  upon  us  with  "freedom 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  89? 

of  commerce  and  sailors'  rights"  inscribed  on  his  flag.  Nothing 
is  more  probable.  Indeed,  it  is  quite  certain,  that  the  "  bits  of 
striped  bunting"  will  bear  this  motto,  if  our  king  revives  his  or- 
ders of  impressment.  But  the  likely  thing  is,  that  his  Majesty 
will  not  revive  those  orders  ;  and  then  we  shall  have  the  happiness 
to  see  ourselves  living  in  peace  and  friendship  with  the  people  of 
America,  and  shall  be  grateful  to  his  Majesty  for  the  blessing. 

But  has  the  republic  gained  nothing  by  the  war?  Has  she 
gained  no  English  ships  ?  Has  she  gained  no  renown  ?  Have  the 
affairs  of  the  Guerriere,  the  Macedonian,  the  Java,  the  Peacock, 
the  Avon,  those  of  Lakes  Erie  and  Champlain,  and  Mobile  and 
Pensacola,  and  Fort  Erie  and  Fort  Moreau  ;  have  these  memora- 
ble actions,  and  many  others,  yielded  her  nothing  in  point  of 
reputation  in  the  world?  Is  it  nothing  to  have  been  able,  with 
her  infant  navy,  to  have  resisted  with  success  the  maritime  power 
of  England  single  handed  ?  Is  it  nothing  to  have  called  forth  the 
admiration  of  the  world  by  acts  of  bravery  like  thai  of  the 
General  Armstrong  privateer  atFayal?  Is  it  nothing  to  have 
made  her  implacable  enemies  in  England  express  their  mortifica- 
tiou  at  seeing  her  citizens  in  Europe  complimented  wherever  they 
go,  in  consequence  of  her  success  against  such  a  mighty  power? 
Is  it  nothing  to  have  proved  to  the  world,  that,  let  who  will  attack 
her,  she  stands  in  need  of  no  foreign  aid ;  no  hired  fighters  of 
other  countries  ;  but  that  her  own  citizens  are  equal,  not  only  to 
her  defence,  but  to  the  carrying  of  her  "  biis  of  striped  bunting" 
in  triumph  into  every  sea,  against  even  a  superior  force  ?  Is  it 
nothing  to  have  shown,  (hat,  in  the  midst  of  such  a  war,  which 
most  people  thought  put  her  very  existence  in  jeopardy,  she  has 
doubled,  nay,  quadrupled,  her  naval  force,  including  her  numerous 
important  captures  from  us  ;  anJ  that  she  has  steadily  proceeded 
in  the  extension  of  her  naval  plans,  buildings,  and  arsenals?  la 
it  nothing  to  have  proved,  that  her  government,  though  free  as  air, 
is  perfectly  adequate  to  the  most  perilous  of  wars  ?  Is  it  nothing 
to  have  thus  entitled  herself  to  the  confidence  of  other  nations, 
and  made  her  friendship  an  object  to  be  sedulously  sought  after 
by  every  power  of  Europe  ;  and  to  have  done  this,  too,  in  a  war 
in  which  it  was  published  that  all  these  powers  had,  by  a  secret 
article  in  the  treaty  of  Paris,  bound  themselves  not  to  interfere  ? 
Is  it  nothing  to  have  shown,  that  she  wanted  the  interference  of 
none  of  them;  that  she  was  able,  single-handed,  to  fight  her  own 
battles,  and  to  come  out  of  the  contest,  not  only  unmutilated,  but 
covered  with  glory  ?  Is  it  nothing  for  her  chief  magistrate  ;  for 
that  very  Mr.  Madison,  whom  our  malignant  and  insolent  writers, 
and  others,  marked  out  to  be  DEPOSED  ;  is  it  nothing  for  Ameri- 
cans to  have  seen  this  their  plain  fellow  citizen,  with  a  salary  of 
less  than  6,000  pounds  a  year,  with  no  heralds,  guards,  or  gilded 
loaches,  conducting  her  affairs,  through  this  trying  season,  with 


398  Letters  of  William  Cobbctt,  Esq. 

BO  much  ability,  so  much  firmness,  and,  at  the  same  time,  witk 
such  tenderness  for  liberty,  as  to  refrain  from  a  resort  even  to  the 
mild  law  of  his  country  against  those  who  have  made  use  of  that 
Kberty  for  purposes  of  the  blackest  and  basest  treason  ?  Is  this 
nothing,  you  venal  English  writers?  Is  this  nothing?  Is  it 
nothing  to  hear  the  chief  *nagislrate  of  a  country  say  :  "  let  my 
calumniators  alone  ;  let  the  traitors  to  freedom  and  America  pro- 
ceed; I  rely  on  the  good  sense  and  the  virtue  of  the  people;  the 
cause  is  the  people's,  and  they  will  be  my  defenders  ?"  Is  this, 
too,  nothing  gained  ? 

Yes,  it  is  a  gain,  not  only  to  America,  but  to  mankind  ;  for 
who  will  now  be  impudent  enough  to  assert,  that  political  freedom, 
that  religious  freedom,  that  a  press  wholly  uncontrolled,  are  in- 
compatible with  national  safety  in  times  of  mar  ?  Who,  upon 
the  ground  of  a  probability  of  invasion)  will  call  for  a  suspen- 
sion of  the  laws  made  for  the  security  of  men's  liberty  and  lives, 
when  the  world  has  now  seen  the  republic  of  America  declared  in 
a  state  of  rigorous  blockade,  mighty  fleets  and  armies  at  the 
mouths  of  her  harbours  and  rivers,  her  soil  invaded  at  several 
points,  her  towns  and  villages  bombarded  or  plundered,  and  her 
capital  itself  in  flames,  without  producing  the  suspension,  even 
for  an  hour,  of  any  law,  and  without  arresting  or  diverting  the 
ordinary  and  gentle  course  of  justice  for  a  single  moment? 

I  need  say  no  more.  Here  is  the  object  on  which  the  friend 
of  freedom  will  rivet  his  eyes.  Here  is  a  dagger  to  the  heart  of 
tyranny  ;  and,  as  such,  it  is  worthy  of  being  presented  to  you. 
The  total  overthrow  of  the  aristocratical  faction  in  America  ;  an 
immense  emigration  to  that  country  ;  her  consequently  rapid 
increase  of  population  and  power  ;  the  creation  of  a  great  maritime 
force  in  the  republic  ;  the  independence  of  South  America. 
These  are  amongst  the  consequences  to  be  expected ;  but  that 
consequence  which  I  consider  of  more  importance  than  all  the 
rest,  is,  the  benefit  which  the  cause  of  freedom  will  receive  from 
the  example  of  America,  now  become  so  conspicuous  a  nation. 
Away,  now,  with  all  their  trumpery  about  Poland,  and  Saxony, 
and  Belgium,  and  the  Congress  of  Vienna !  Let  them  do  what 
they  like  with  the  Germans,  and  the  Cossacks,  and  the  Dutch  ; 
let  them  divide  them  and  subdivide  them  in  any  manner  that  they 
please  ;  let  them  whisker  them  or  knight  th«m  according  to  their 
fancy.  We  can  now  look  to  growing  millions  of  free  and  en- 
lightened citizens,  descended  from  the  same  ancestors,  and  speak- 
ing the  same  language,  with  ourselves,  inhabiting  an  extensive 
and  fertile  country,  tendering  food  and  freedom  to  the  miserable 
and  oppressed  of  every  other  clime,  and  a  PRESS  for  the 
promulgation  of  those  truths  which  these  unfortunate  beings  have 
so  long  been  compelled  to  suppress. 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  399 

I  ara,  with  the  greatest  regard   and  respect,  your  faithful  and 
most  obedient  servant. 

WILLIAM  COBBETT. 


[This  letter  has  never  before  appeared  in  print,  as  far  as  we  can  discover.  We 
received  it,  in  manuscript,  about  tlie  same  time  that  we  learnt  our  proposals  for 
publishing  Cobbett's  Letters  had  been  received  in  England.  The  reasons  for  sup- 
pressing this  letter  in  the  Register,  we  cannot  understand.  We  received  it  in  a 
mutilated  state,  and  there  were  about  twenty  lines  which  we  were  utterly  unable  to 
"decipher.  It  was  addressed  to  the  Publishers  of  Cobbelt's  Letters,  in  an  envelope, 
•without  a  line  accompanying  it] 


TO  THE  EARL  OF  LIVERPOOL* 

My  Lord, 

WITHIN  the  last  week  I  have  received  a  bundle  of  Ame- 
rican newspapers,  for  which  I  am  indebted  to  a  gentleman  of  that 
country,  who  left  them  with  my  publisher,  with  the  remark,  that 
he  did  not  wish  to  see  me  ;  that  I  was  personally  unknown  to 
him,  but  that  he  presumed  I  would  turn  them  to  good  account, 
I  really  did  not  know  what  better  account  I  could  put  them  tof 
than  to  peruse  them  instantly,  and  inform  your  lordship  of  their 
contents. 

The  first  paper  I  laid  my  hands  on,  was,  what  they  call  in 
America,  a  country  paper,  and  is  published  twice  a  week  :  it  wsa 
headed,  in  large  capitals,  GLORIOUS  NEWS!  UNPA- 
RALLELED VICTORY !  obtained  by  the  AMERICAN 
ARMS,  under  GENERAL  JACKSON,  at  New-Orleans. 
This,  naturally  enough,  caught  my  attention,  and  without  dis- 
turbing another  of  them,  1  sat  down  to  read  it,  thinking  that  you 
might  like  to  hear  what  kind  of  a  story  Jonathan  told  of  this 
battle  ;  very  little  of  which,  as  regards  matter  of  fact,  has  as  yet 
come  to  the  ears  or  understandings  of  the  enlightened  people  of 
this  island.  Should  I  tell  you  that  it  was  with  astonishment  that 
I  read  of  this  unexampled  defeat  and  carnage  of  the  forces,  under 
Major-General  Pakenham,  the  brother-in-law  of  our  own  immor- 
talized living  general,  the  Duke  of  Wellington  and  Marquis  of 
Talavera ;  should  I  so  say,  I,  who  have  so  often  told  you,  so 
often  forewarned  you  of  what  would  be  the  fate  of  all  the  armies 
you  should  send  to  America,  should  I  own  to  you  my  astonish- 
ment at  their  being  beaten  and  driven  off  the  field  by  a  Yankee 
general,  what  would  your  lordship  think  ?  You  certainly  could 
not  suppose,  that  in  this  hour  of  your  mortification  I  would  at- 
tempt to  insult  your  feelings,  by  presuming  to  flatter  you  ;  or, 
that  I  would  give  you  credit  for  plans  and  operations  which  have 
met  every  disaster,  by  saying  that  they  merited  otherwise.  No, 
indeed,  it  is  from  no  insulting  motive  of  flattery,  against  which,  1 


400  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

know  your  deadly  antipathy,  but  from  real  downright  trnth  that 
I  now  declare  to  you,  that  when  I  read  this  disastrous  account, 
astonishment  is  but  a  weak  word  to  express  my  feelings.  My 
lord,  I  was  amazed !  I  was  under  the  agony  of  an  ague,  and 
the  very  highest  paroxysm  of  fever.  I,  who  have  ever  said,  from 
the  day  of  the  sailing  of  the  44th  and  85th  regiments,  under  Ge- 
neral ROBS,  that  they  only  went  to  meet  disgrace ;  and  which  has 
proved  as  sure,  as  many  other  things  which  I  have  told  you.  I, 
who  have  ever  and  anon,  been  repeating  to  you,  that  your  sap- 
pers, your  miners,  and  your  rocketmen,  were  nothing  at  all  in 
comparison  to  a  Kentucky  rifle,  in  the  hands  of  a  back-woods- 
man ;  shall  I  again  own  it,  eren  1  was  amazed.  I  will  not  im- 
pose upon  you,  by  saying,  that  I  did  not  most  religiously  calcu- 
late, that  the  whole  army  under  General  Pakenham  would  be 
beaten,  had  they  been  twice  the  number:  and  you  must  recollect, 
ray  lord,  that  I  deprecated  the  cruelty  of  sending  men  from  the 
continent  to  America,  who  were  but  just  panting  from  their  fights 
and  fatigues  in  Spain  and  in  France ;  yet,  although  I  calculated 
on  their  being  beaten,  I  did  not  expect  to  see  them  shot  down,  one 
hundred  men,  rank  and  file,  for  one  of  the  enemy.  No,  this 
would  indeed  be  arrogance,  should  I  say  it ;  it  would  be  assuming 
a  foresight  for  disaster,  of  which,  I  assure  you,  I  have  no  pre- 
tensions ;  and  had  I  ventured  to  predict  it,  I  should  have  merited 
a  strait  waistcoat.  But  as  I  said,  I  really  expected  all  your 
forces  would  be  beaten.  I  expected  to  hear  of  hard  fight- 
ing, and  a  bloody  business  on  both  sides,  but  I  candidly  confess 
that  I  never  dreamed  of  hearing  of  a  slaughter  of  five  thousand 
British  troops,  and  that  in  all  this  havock,  the  enemy  in  killed 
and  wounded,  should  not  exceed  twenty-three  solitary  militiamen. 
This  account,  if  it  was  not  corroborated  by  such  testimony  as 
M  ould  silence  the  most  sceptical,  I  would  put  behind  the  fire.  It 
•would  be  a  pleasure  to  me  if  1  doubled  it ;  but  I  assure  you  it 
looks  to  be  too  true  !  Such  a  havock  as  this,  was  never  before 
made  in  a  British  army.  The  American  papers  state  the  force 
landed,  as  being  only  between  nine  and  ten  thousand  men,  one 
half  of  which  was  killed.  We  had  the  opinion  here,  that  this 
force  amounted  to  sixteen  thousand  men  ;  had  it  been  thirty  thou- 
sand, it  Would  have  shared  the  same  fate. 

This  military  miracle,  for  I  can  call  it  nothing  else,  really  pla- 
ces all  Buonaparte's  former  victories  in  the  shade ;  they  bear  no 
comparison;  in  a  word,  it  has  not  its  parallel  any  where.  The 
strongest  fortress  that  ever  was  besieged,  Gibraltar  itself ;  refer  to 
history  my  lord,  I  beg  of  you,  for  three  hundred  years,  and  see 
if  you  find  any  thing  like  it.  Gracious  God!  It  is  too  shocking 
for  animadversion.  Half  a  dozen  more  such  expeditions,  and  I 
fear  we  should  have  scarcely  men  left  to  walk  the  parade  at 
James's,  or  to  change  duty  at  the  Horse  Guards. 


Idlers  of  William  Cobbdt,  Esq.  401 

And  now,  are  you  not  satisfied  that  I  have  not  been  your  ene- 
my, as  many  of  your  particular  friends  and  advisers  would  have 
you  think  me  ?  You  must  not  cast  blame  upon  me,  because  I 
did  not  tell  you  that  this  dreadful  unprecedented  catastrophe 
would  be  the  result  of  your  expedition  to  the  southern  coast  of 
America.  You  must  acknowledge  you  never  informed  me  of  its 
destination,  or  what  was  expected  from  it;  indeed,  if  you  had  so 
far  condescended,  although  I  should,  without  doubt,  have  fore- 
warned you  that  it  would  have  met  defeat,  I  never  would  have 
gone  so  far  as  to  say,  that  the  whole  army,  or  the  greater  part  of 
it,  would  be  killed,  without  scratching  their  enemy. 

And  here,  I  must  not  omit  mentioning  the  reward  which  the 
American  congress  bestowed  upon  their  gallant  officer,  General 
Jackson.  Gallant,  I  am  forced  to  call  him,  although  he  has  been 
our  severest  enemy.  I  find  in  the  paper  before  me,  of  the  6th 
of  February,  (the  latest  I  have,)  that  Mr.  Troup,  a  deputy  from 
Georgia,  recommended  the  adoption  of  a  resolution,  that  the 
thanks  of  congress  be  presented  to  General  Jackson,  and,  through 
him,  to  the  brave  officers  and  men  under  his  command ;  and  that 
the  president  be  requested  to  cause  a  gold  medal  to  be  struck  and 
presented  to  him.  This  resolution  was  twice  read,  and  referred 
to  the  committee  of  the  whole  house,  and  I  regret  that  I  have 
not  the  papers  which  confirm  it,  although  I  have  no  doubt  but 
that  it  met  a  unanimous  adoption.  This  is  the  reward  which  thft 
American  government  are  in  the  habit  of  showing  to  bravery  ;  and 
the  bravest  man  in  it  neither  looks  for,  nor  expects,  a  greater  remu- 
neration. Had  General  Jackson  been  less  skilful,  yet,  had  he 
shown  perseverance,  bravery,  and  patriotism,  he  would  have  re- 
ceived the  approbation  of  his  countrymen  and  his  conscience, 
though,  perhaps,  not  the  thanks  of  congress.  But  alter  the  posi- 
tion, and  let  us  suppose  that  Sir  Edward  Pakenham  had  been  sue- 
cessful ;  what  would  you  and  the  British  parliament  have  done  for 
Sir  Edward?  Would  a  dukedom  have  been  too  much  for  him 
had  he  gained  possession  of  the  embouchure  of  the  Mississippi, 
that  great  key  to  all  the  commerce  of  the  western  states,  even  to 
the  heart  of  Pennsylvania  ?  Would  the  dukedom  of  Orleans,  in 
reversion,  with  a  grant  of  as  many  thousand  pounds  sterling  as 
there  are  stars  in,  the  firmament,  been  too  much,  in  your  imagina- 
tion, for  the  man  who  would  have  possessed  himself  of  this  magi- 
cal padlock  and  key,  which  opened  or  closed  at  pleasure,  the 
gates  of  all  the  commerce  of  a  country  seven  times  as  large  in, 
extent  as  England  and  Scotland  together  ?  And  yet,  my  lord, 
the  American  general  who  defended  this  all-important  passe  par 
tout,  more  important  than  that  of  your  secret  cabinet,  and  who,  in 
defending  it,  gave  such  a  lesson  of  military  self  defence  as  never 
army  of  the  earth  received  before,  is,  doubtless,  well  contented, 
satisfied,  and  grateful,  with  the  thanks  of  his  countrymen  :  and  I 

51 


4|Ji  Letters  of  William  Cobbdt,  Esq. 

would  wager  that  he  values  the  little  gold  medal,  in  weight  not  above 
a  doubloon,  full  as  much,  or  more  than  you  or  your  generals  would 
value  the  dukedom  and  the  estate.  This  is  neither  more  nor  less 
than  thfi  effect  of  education  and  habit.  The  American  officer,  or 
private,  when  he  takes  the  field  to  defend  his  country,  has  but 
one  object  in  view — to  do  his  duty.  Aggrandizement,  military 
or  civil  honours  never  trouble  his  imagination:  he  has  enlisted  to 
fight,  and  fight  he  will ;  if  honours  accompany  his  exertions,  so 
much  the  better.  Pensions,  places,  and  pecuniary  recompenses, 
are,  as  yet,  unknown  amongst  this  people  ;  and  I  should  not  be  sur- 
prised, on  the  disbandment  of  the  army,  if  General  Jackson  him- 
self should  return  to  the  ranks  of  private  life,  without  one  six- 
pence more  pay  than  that  which  his  commission  entitled  hirn  to. 
There  are  various  excuses  to  be  made  for  your  lordship  in  this 
late  warfare,  as  well  as  for  Don  Quixotic  when  he  fought  the 
windmills — you  had  both  mistaken  your  adversaries  ;  but  there  is 
one  excuse,  to  wit,  that  of  taking  wholesome  advice,  which  you 
cannot  lay  claim  to.  Had  the  Knight  of  the  Rueful  Visage  lis- 
tened to  Sancho,  he  had  not  been  unhorsed  ;  and  had  you  listened 
to  me,  you  had  not  been  prostrated  with  the  Prince  Regent's 
speech  in  your  hand,  promising  to  close  the  war  wilh  glory  to  the 
arms  of  England.  My  lord,  there  are  men  who  will  not  take  ad- 
vice from  those  who  are  able  to  give  it  them  ;  among  the  number 
"  I  reckon,"  as  they  say  in  America,  yourself.  Had  you  known 
these  people  whom  you  dreamed  you  could  flog  into  submission 
but  half  as  well  as  I  do ;  had  you  known  their  thorough  contempt 
for  pomp,  for  grandeur,  for  titles,  and  for  many  other  things  which 
your  lordship's  generals,  as  well  as  your  lordship,  prize  above  all 
other  considerations,  you  never  would  have  been  led  into  the  error 
of  thinking,  that  by  threats,  by  rods,  or  by  bribes,  you  could  suc- 
ceed in  subduing  them.  I  reassert  it,  my  lord  ;  they  are  a  won- 
derful people,  and  such  you  must  admit  you  have  found  them. 
There  is  not  such  a  people  in  the  world  beside  :  and  the  reason 
they  are  such  a  people,  is,  as  I  have  oftentimes  said  before,  that 
each  man  feels  his  independence  ;  he  has  not  in  this  world  a 
superior,  whom  he  regards  or  looks  up  to  with  awe.  Not  that  this 
people  do  not  do  justice  to  talents  and  virtue ;  they  respect  and 
honour  them,  but  (hey  worship  them  not;  indeed,  they  rather 
watch  them,  knowing  that  superior  talents,  if  misapplied,  may 
mislead  and  do  much  injury.  They  regard  with  reverence  and 
awe,  nothing  less  than  the  Divinity,  or  his  image  upon  earth ;  and 
if  they  have  a  weak  side,  on  which  they  can  be  assailed  without 
suspicion,  it  is  this  one.  The  clergy,  and  the  clerical  officers, 
are  held,  throughout  this  extended  region,  in  more  respect  than 
the  established  clergy  of  our  country  are  in  England.  The  rea- 
son is  obvious :  with  them  they  have  hitherto  been  the  pastors 
and  protectors,  the  advisers  and  the  friends,  and,  under  the  man- 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  403 

tie  o,f  the  sacred  order,  they  have  bound  the  will  as  well  as  the 
duty.  With  us  it  is  different :  the  abuses  of  religion  are  more 
spoken  of  among  us  than  its  benefits.  Hence  it  is,  that  if  these 
people  have  a  weak  point,  it  is  here  you  must  look  for  it  ;  and  I 
have  already  observed  and  remarked  on  it  in  the  state  of  Massa- 
chusetts, in  different  letters  I  have  written,  which,  I  trust,  may  do 
good  in  opening  the  eyes  ********** 

(About  ten  lines  defaced.) 

*****  the  poorest  man  in  this  country  cherishes  the 
idea  that  his  son  has  as  fair  a  chance  for  the  highest  offices  as 
the  richest  man's  son  in  the  land  ;  and  General  Jackson  himself, 
who  has  certainly  achieved  a  greater  land  victory  than  any  your 
lordship  can  cite  from  all  the  numerous  bulletins  of  slaughter,  in 
the  archives  of  *#****#,  never  was  educated  for  a  military  life, 
nor  did  his  father  before  him  ever  dream  that  his  son  should  im- 
mortalize himself  at  the  cannon's  mouth,  or  in  the  deadly  breach. 
These  acts,  and  this  spirit,  which  display  themselves  among  this 
people,  are  momentary ;  what  their  duration  may  be,  hencefor- 
ward, will  depend  much  upon  the  policy  of  England :  they  are 
now  approximating  to  a  military  people ;  if  you  fan  that  flame, 
my  lord,  I  will  not  answer  where  the  conflagration  shall  cease. 

I  never  get  into  America,  but  my  subject  runs  away  with  me  ; 
I  am  obliged  to  return  to  my  starting  post.  Here  lays  the  map  of 
this  surprising  country,  and  its  extensive  environs,  which  Sir  Ed- 
ward Pakenham  was  to  have  subdued.  I  trace  with  my  finger  the 
meanderings  of  the  Ohio,  from  its  junction  with  the  Monongahela 

and  waters   of  the  Alleghany  at  Pittsburgh,  down   to ,  its 

falling  into  the  Mississippi  stream,  nearly  a  distance  of  3,000 
miles.  Here,  indeed,  I  must  own  you  made  a  bold  move,  to  say 
the  least  of  it,  when  you  directed  the  attack  against  New-Orleans. 
What,  my  lord,  are  you  doubtful  of  the  boldness  of  this  measure  ? 
Of  the  grandeur  of  this  conquest  ?  Next  to  your  taking  posses- 
sion of  the  mountains,  valleys,  and  level  land,  in  our  sister  planet, 
by  a  squadron  of  balloons  under  Garnerin,  it  certainly  would  have 
proved  the  most  entertaining  circumstance,  and  the  most  produc- 
tive of  astonishing  events,  that  has  enlightened  us  within  the 
century. 

I  have  said,  that  General  Jackson  was  not  educated  for  a  mili- 
tary life  ;  I  made  the  assertion,  which  is  uncommon  with  me, 
without  being  positive  as  to  the  fact ;  but  taking  it  for  granted,  that 
affairs,  as  regarded  military  minutise,  on  the  breaking  out  of  the 
war,  were  pretty  nearly  as  I  left  them  in  that  country,  I  consi- 
dered that  I  did  not  hazard  much  in  saying  so  ;  however,  in  pe- 
rusing my  newspapers,  (and  I  write  as  I  read,  with  the  view  of 
aiding  information,)  I  met  with  an  account  of  this  said  General 
Jackson's  career,  and  it  confirms  what  I  have  before  said.  The 
acco'unt  I  have  read  is  taken  from  a  paper  printed  in  Virginia, 


.104  Letter*  of  William  Cobbdt,  Esq. ' 

^  * 

called  the  Richmond  Inquirer :  It  states  that  be  was  born  in 
North  Carolina,  and  educated  for  the  bar  ;  that  he  was  a  member 
of  the  Tennessee  convention  j  then,  a  member  of  assembly  ; 
and,  afterwards,  a  senator  of  the  United  States  ;  since  that,  a 
judge  of  the  supreme  court:  that  after  having  filled  this  station 
with  honour,  he  turned  his  attention  to  military  life,  and  soon  rose 
to  be  a  major  general  of  militia.  The  account  speaks  highly  of 
his  private  character  and  disposition,  and  states  that  he  is  about 
fifty-five  years  of  age. 

This  is  the  way,  my  lord,  that  these  people  make  their  gene- 
rals ;  or,  rather,  I  should  say,  this  is  the  manner  they  have  hitherto 
made  them.  We  Lave  our  black  gowns,  and  wigs  with  three  tails, 
our  counsellors,  our  barristers,  and  judges,  but  we  rarely  see  any 
of  them  turn  out,  and  take  the  tented  field.  As  regards  wigs,  no 
man  in  America,  that  has  hairs  enough  to  keep  his  head  warm, 
whether  he  belong  to  the  bar  or  fhe  pulpit,  ever  thinks  of  trou- 
bling a  periwig-maker's  shop;  with  us,  we  call  them  perfumers. 
Yet,  although  they  don't  wear  wigs,  they  are  not  without  wits ; 
and  f  assure  you,  that  they  esteem  the  inside  of  the  head  as  of 
much  more  value  than  the  out.  I  have  repeatedly  mentioned, 
whether  I  am  believed  or  not,  I  can't  say,  that  you  can  scarcely 
find  a  man  in  that  country  who  cannot  read  and  write  ;  and  that  the 
village  blacksmith  is  frequently  seen  to  put  down  the  Gazette,  to 
shoe  a  traveller's  horse.  Thus  it  is  that  General  Jackson,  after 
having  been  a  member  of  a  convention,  a  member  of  assembly,  a 
senator,  and  a  judge,  commences,  irr  what  we  would  call  the  de- 
cline of  life,  the  arduous  profession  of  arms  ;  and  this,  with  mo- 
tives very  different  from  pecuniary  ones  ;  for  his  private  fortune 
is  said  to  be  independent.  Now,  I  believe  I  might  assert,  that 
such  an  instance  is  not  found  among  us  once  in  fifty  years,  and  I 
aui  inclined  to  believe,  they  would  be  scarce,  even  in  the  alarm  of 
French  invasion.  It  really  would  be  ludicrous  to  see  some  of 
those  non-descripts  we  meet  with  at  Doctor's  Commons,  perform- 
ing the  manual  under  a  drill  sergeant. 

My  lord,  history  has  hitherto  confined  herself  to  the  Maid  of 
Orleans,  and  the  exploits  she  performed  against  our  Henry's  ge- 
nerals, Talbot  and  Salisbury.  Hereafter,  it  will  speak  of  the 
Man  of  Orleans,  and  it  is  as  well  we  should  know  who  he  was; 
and  although  not,  like  the  maid,  inspired  by  a  religious  phrensy, 
he  w^s  certainly  inspired  to  do  us  more  mischief  in  on«  fatal  hour 
ih»H.  -i  twelvemonth  can  repair.  Whatever  idea  you  may  have 
of  my  heart,  I  assure  you,  in  the  language  of  sincerity,  it  aches  on 
this  occasion.  Would  to  God,  I  had  not  to  record  it !  This 
battle  has  cost  me  some  agonies,  in  common  with  many 
others  of  his  majesty's  subjects.  The  British  troops,  on  that  day, 
immortalized  themselves  for  their  bravery;  never  was  more  heroic 
gallantry  displayed  by  men.  The  Americans  themselves  attest  il ; 


Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq.  405 

and  there  were  brave  spirits  who  fell  on  that  field,  deserving  of  a 
better  memorial  than  the  temper  of  the  times  can  now  afford  them, 
whose  valour  should  live  in  marble  and  in  brass. 

My  lord,  we  have  met  dreadful  humiliations  in  this  contest ; 
the  supremacy  of  the  British  flag  has  been  destroyed  in  the  eyes 
of  all  Europe,  and,  what  is  still  worse,  in  our  own.  All  our  de- 
monstrations b'y  land,  have  met  with  disaster  upon  disaster,  not  to 
say  disgrace,  except  in  one  solitary  instance — I  mean  the  attack 
upon  the  capitol  of  Washington ;  and  here  we  displayed  a  fero- 
city in  setting  fire  to  the  president's  house,  and  burning  a  library, 
for  which  the  Americans  pretend  to  accuse  us  of  Vandalism. 
Notwithstanding  all  the  injuries  at  home  and  abroad,  which  this 
unnecessary  war  has  inflicted  on  us,  the  Times  paper,  when  it 
heard  that  peace  had  been  concluded  at  Ghent,  instead  of  rejoic- 
ing, was  the  first  to  throw  a  firebrand  in  its  face.  "  Let  us"  says 
the  Times,  "  yet  see  one  of  our  first  generals  sent  out.  Let  us 
behold  a  British  force  in  America,  capable  of  intimidating  Madi- 
son and  his  congress.  Let  us  hope  to  see  the  war  concluded  with 
one  blow,  that  may  not  only  chastise  the  savages  into  present 
peace,  but  make  a  lasting  impression  on  their  fears."  This  is  the 
language  held  out  to  deceive,  and  to  irritate  passions  which  should 
be  assuaged.  What  would  the  Times  want  ?  What  kind  of  ge- 
nerals ?  What  kind  of  armies  would  he  send  out  to  subdue  that 
country,  which  he  considers  as  easily  intimidated  as  the  island  of 
Jersey  or  Guernsey  ?  Have  we  not  had  generals  of  the  first 
talents,  and  the  best  of  veteran  troops  employed  ?  What  a 
Drummond,  a  Ross,  a  Pakenham,  and  a  Gibbs,  could  not  perform 
with  a  hundred  thousand  men,  who  could  ?  Had  the  Duke  of 
Wellington  been  at  Orleans,  what  would  have  prevented  his  sha- 
ring the  fate  of  Pakenham  ?  He  has  no  more  claim  to  invulnera- 
bility than  another  man,  and  a  Kentucky  rifle  would  no  more  have 
missed  fire,  if  directed  against  him,  than  against  another — its 
mark  it  never  misses. 

The  American  papers  state,  that  the  watchword  and  counter- 
sign of  the  English  army  was,  booty  and  beauty ;  for  the  honour 
of  English  officers,  I  doubt  this  statement.  If  one  brave  man 
was  alive,  who  fell  on  that  field,  I  could  ascertain  the  fact ;  and 
if  I  found  the  statement  false,  I  would  desire  the  Americans  to  con- 
tradict it,  which  I  am  convinced  they  would  do  upon  a  refutation 
properly  authenticated.  These  people  are  generous  as  well  as 
brave ;  they  have  displayed  their  generosity  in  many  instances, 
which  must  have  made  an  impression  even  upon  yourself:  they 
would  use  their  best  endeavours  to  take  the  life  of  their  enemy ; 
but  they  would  no  more  strip  him  of  his  honour  than  they  would  a 
wounded  soldier  of  his  shirt.  This  assertion  of  the  American, 
newspapers  is  a  stigma  on  all  the  military  of  the  kingdom.  As 
you,  my  lord,  can  easily  ascertain  the  fact,  I. beg  of  you,  if  found, 


406  Letters  of  William  Cobbett,  Esq. 

as  I  believe  it,  a  «nisstatement,  that  you  will,  for  the  honour  of  the 
army,  contradict  it. 

And  now,  before  I  close  this  letter,  which  I  intended  should 
not  tire  you,  being  written  on  a  subject  which  I  entered  upon 
with  pain.  ************** 
(Here  twelve  lines,  and  upwards,  are  entirely  defaced,  and  with- 
out any  connection  we  read) — a  corrupted  majority  denationalizes 
a  state,  and  weakens  its  energies.  (Another  break  of  about  six 
lines.)  Fortune  has  apparently  been  propitious — what  we  have 
lost  by  one  contest  we  have  gained  by  another.  Let  ua  not  lose 
this  also.  I  adjure  you  to  reflect  on  what  ground  it  is  we  stand— a 
few  missteps,  and  -we  might  find  ourselves  plunged  into  miseries, 
against  which  there  is  no  combating,  and  no  retreat. 

Above  all,  let  me  impress  upon  you,  to  be  sincere  in  this  paci- 
fication with  America ;  endeavour  to  forget  that  she  ever  had  been 
a  colony  to  Great  Britain.  This  is  the  most  pernicious  recollec- 
tion we  have  among  us  ;  and  I  know  that  among  many  of  your 
counsellors  and  bosom  intimates,  and  even  by  many  members  of 
the  royal  family,  this  ridiculous  recollection  is  still  maintained, 
and  the  idea  still  cherished,  that  she  might  become  so  again.  It 
is  an  illusion  of  the  weakest,  as  well  as  the  most  injurious  stamp. 
If  you  wish  to  avoid  another  war  with  these  people,  which  I  fore- 
warn you  will  prove  the  most  calamitous  one  that  Britain  ever 
waged,  you  must  treat  them  as  an  independent  and  high-minded 
people.  Should  you  do  this,  and  curb  the  insolence  of  petty  offi- 
cers in  our  navy,  who  disgrace  their  flag  by  usurping  an  author- 
ity to  which  they  have  no  title,  you  may  succeed  in  making 
friends  of  a  nation,  which,  in  a  few  years  to  come,  will  hold  the 
highest  rank  in  the  estimation  of  the  world.  Let  the  disasters  of 
this  war  be  constantly  before  your  eyes,  and  do  not  believe  that  a 
prolongation  of  it  would  have  produced  any  changes  for  the  bet- 
ter. The  wisest  step,  since  its  commencement,  was  its  conclusion  ; 

for  had  it  continued   another  year but  I  forbear,  my  lord, 

I  wish  not  to  provoke  an  irritation  ;  things  that  are  past  had  better 
be  forgotten,  provided  our  memories  will  admit  of  it.  Botley  is 
still  a  very  pleasant  place,  notwithstanding  my  year's  confinement 
in  Newgate,  and  the  money  I  paid  to  his  majesty. 

Did  I  thhik  that  you  would  accept  of  advice  from  a  man  who 
really  has  never  deceived  you,  and  who  has  told  you  more  truths 
about  America  than  you  ever  learnt  from  any  man  living, 
I  would  recommend  you  to  admonish  the  prince,  if  he  wishes 
to  preserve  the  interests  of  his  kingdom,  to  place  the  commer- 
cial relations  with  America  on  the  most  favourable  footing.  The 
late  contest  has  lost  us  much,  and  cost  us  more,  than  I  Can  pre- 
tend to  keep  an  account  of;  of  this,  however,  you,  my  lord,  need 
no  information.  A  part  of  this  loss  may  yet  be  retrieved,  but  it 
must  be  by  wiser  measures  than  we  have  hitherto  adopted.  Let 


Letters  of  William  Cobbettt  Esq.  40* 

me  caution  you  not  to  drive  the  people  of  America  to  become  a 
manufacturing  nation ;  should  you  do  this,  you  lose  a  third  of 
your  strength.  You  may  consider  this  as  a  preposterous  idea ; 
but  I  assure  you  I  see  symptoms  of  their  becoming  one  much 
earlier  than  I  ever  imagined.  This  has  been  one  of  the  many 
serious  evils  resulting  from  the  misunderstanding  with  America ; 
I  view  it  as  one  of  the  greatest ;  and  should  you  have  any  doubts 
on  this  head,  you  may  easily  satisfy  them,  my  lord,  by  engaging 
an  able  linguist  in  all  our  various  vernacular  tongues,  and  travelling 
through  the  different  manufacturing  towns  in  England  and  Scot- 
land, when,  I  engage,  you  shall  find  my  fears  are  not  without 
foundatipn. 

I  am,  my  lord,  yours  respectfully, 

WM.  COBBETT. 

P,otleyt  March  20,  1815. 


FINIS. 


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